Pensioner, 85, damaged knee after falling down pothole

George Bell had just been to buy lottery tickets and was returning to his car when he fell down the crater, close to the town’s doctors surgery.

Having not seen the pothole, he fell after twisting his knee and staff from the medical centre rushed to his aid.

“I’d been to the paper shop for lottery tickets,” George, who is 85, told the News & Star .

“I decided that I needed the toilet to went to the toilets that are nearby. I came out and was walking back to the car.

“I heard a car coming so I looked to my left and saw one coming over my left shoulder. It was getting near to me.

"The pothole was in my blind spot and that’s when I fell into it.”

Mr Bell said the pothole, which he first noticed around three months ago, was “around 2ft by 4ins”.

“I twisted my left knee, which I had replaced about three or four months ago,” he added.

“I was on the ground and people came out from the doctors surgery to help me.

"The doctor - Dr Kehoe - came out and got me up and into a wheelchair.

“I was examined and she decided that I wasn’t too badly hurt, but they did wonder whether I needed an x-ray.

"I was badly bruised and was sent home with pills.”

Mr Bell, who also had his right knee replaced three years ago, said he hopes that the pothole can be filled in urgently to ensure that other people suffer a similar fate.

The potholes He added: “I just want to highlight it because it might happen to someone else. It’s dangerous. It’s about 2ft wide by 4ins, it’s a big thing.”

Ian Pennington, a Brampton parish councillor, told said that he reported the pothole “two or three weeks ago”.

“I noticed that they had marked the holes but nothing has been done yet,” he said.

A spokesperson for Carlisle City Council said: “We are working with contractors to improve the road surface in the car park.

“We apologise for the length of time this is taking and we are doing all we can to speed up the process.

"Work to repair the pothole is set to start soon.”