Why this 73-year-old Bamber Bridge woman with mobility struggles has branded this pathway 'dangerous'

Freda Stammers is calling for a make-shift pathway of stones in land near homes in Lodge Close, Bamber Bridge, to be smoothed down.

The make-shift path comprises uneven gravel that has been left on a piece of land opposite The Food Warehouse just off Lodge Close. The owners of the land remain unknown.

Freda Stammers, of Lodge Close, was using the path when she lost her balance, fell over and fractured a knee bone in December.

Freda, who had a knee replacement four years ago, said: "I think it's dangerous. I was walking along it to catch a bus to go the doctors when my knee just went underneath me and I ended up in the hospital where I was told I'd fractured a slither of my knee bone.

Freda's neighbour Terry Worden has also expressed concerns about the pathway opposite The Food Warehouse.

"I had it in a full leg brace for two weeks and I'm now walking with my stick again, which I haven't needed to use since my knee replacement. I'm still under a consultant at the Royal Preston Hospital and I'm waiting for a bone scan."

The 73-year-old said many of her neighbours are in their 70s and 80s and are forced to use the path, which leads directly from Lodge Close to nearby shops in Station Road, as other routes are too long.

"We're not spring chickens round here. We can go a long way around but we're carting all the shopping back with us and in this weather, the ground becomes absolutely saturated with rain so the grass around the path is slippery. It's like a swimming pool. We've had to walk on the path but we still have to be careful not to slip," she said.

"There's nowhere to walk safely and I have to hold on to the fence when going across the path. It's even dangerous for people who are younger than us."

Freda (right) with her Lodge Close neighbours Maureen and Gerry Collins.

Freda's friends and neighbours also struggle, one of whom is 85 and has had two hip replacements while the other is 83 and has osteoporosis in their back.

Lancashire County Council carried out roadwork in Bamber Bridge around one year ago. Two Lodge Close households then asked the contractors to use any leftover gravel to make the pathway, according to Freda.

"They put the stones down but never bothered to flatten them," she added.

Freda has contacted both South Ribble Borough Council and Lancashire County Council but the latter confirmed the land is privately owned.

"I've contacted South Ribble Borough Council and Lancashire County Council but nobody is saying they'll make it right for us," she said.

"We're not asking for the world. We're just asking for it to be smoothed over. At night time, you have to take a torch out to find your way across the stones and in this day and age, you shouldn't have to."