A GREAT-grandmother who banged her head after a fall on an uneven pavement has urged the council to do something about it before “somebody kills themselves.”

Doreen Crossley, aged 80, was walking along Plodder Lane, near Glynne Street, in Farnworth, when she fell over the cracked concrete and hit her head, leaving her battered and bruised.

A neighbour called an ambulance and she was taken to Royal Bolton Hospital for stitches.

When she returned home she reported the problem to Yasmin Qureshi, MP for Bolton South East, who has written to Sean Harriss, chief executive of Bolton Council.

The council has now assessed the pavement and agreed to undertake some repairs to it.

Mrs Crossley said: “I am quite fit so imagine if someone less able than me falls?

“I may be 80 but I am not a doddery old lady. I do everything for myself — cleaning and cooking. But since the fall I have lost my confidence.

"The man who called the ambulance said that I was not the first person who has fallen there.

“I think if I had to walk that way again I will walk on the other side of the road. I’m still in a lot of pain.”

Mrs Crossley had earlier attended a funeral on February 26 when she fell.

She said: “There is a tree on the street, which is bringing up the roots.

"I think when I fell I tripped and tried to save myself by putting my hands out and hit my head.”

Ms Qureshi added: “It is really important that pavements which the public walk on should be safe. Bearing in mind that we have a lot of elderly and disabled people.

“Obstructions that cause people to fall should be removed to prevent accidents like this from happening.”

A council spokesman said: "First and foremost we would like to wish Mrs Crossley a full and speedy recovery.

“We do carry out footpath inspections across the borough regularly and as soon as we received this complaint we went out and assessed the condition of the footpath.

"While on previous inspections no faults have come to light we established on this occasion that there were some small amounts of unevenness, which is inevitable at the base of such a tree, and we will undertake some repairs to the pavement."