A woman who fell off a treadmill in a council-run leisure centre and a householder who hurt herself moving her settee in a council flat are among those to have received cash.

Other successful claimants include a motorist whose car was hit by a falling tree as he drove past a cemetery and a woman who tripped over a binbag and blamed dustmen for not collecting it.

Some of the claims are for damage caused to homes by shoddy repair work carried out by council staff.

One woman complained a workman had damaged her freezer when he fell off a set of ladders onto it, while another said she had hurt herself moving a sofa which workmen had shifted when they fixed her boiler.

But the number of claims has dropped substantially since 2001/2, when 119 people pursued the council and £249,000 was paid out. In 2005/6, only 48 made claims, with £46,000 shelled out. The total bill from 2001-2007 was £832,500.

A council spokesman said efforts had been made to improve safety standards in council buildings, land and vehicles in the past few years, to cut the risk of accidents.

New laws which ban legal firms specialising in personal injury claims from canvassing for business on the street have also reduced the amount of claims, he added.

The spokesman added: "We do get some strange claims from time-to-time and when they are not genuine, we work with our insurers to ensure they are turned down quickly, to save taxpayers' money."

According to figures from the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, more than 700,000 people in the UK are taken to hospital each year after falling over on pavements and roads, making it among the most common reasons for a visit to casualty.