Saturday, April 02, 2011

Council apology after paralysed cyclist receives repairs bill

A teenager left paralysed and wheelchair bound after being impaled on railings in a cycling accident is furious after being sent a letter – demanding payment for the damaged fence. Ben Foulds, 18, was nearly killed when he skidded on wet leaves, careered into a metal railing then plunged 15ft onto the road below with an eight-inch long section of railing speared into his ribs. He suffered a broken back and swelling on the brain and has since been told he will probably never walk again.

The letter from Devon County Council arrived last week informing him he was to be charged for the cost of repairing the railing. His furious mother Claire, 46, said: “It is quite amazing the council would send something like that. It is quite insensitive considering he is still in hospital and is in a wheelchair because of the accident. I was speechless when I read it.”



The letter read: ”It has been reported to me that you caused damage to a section of railings alongside the highway which belongs to Devon County Council. The council is entitled to recover the costs from the person responsible for the damage. An invoice will be raised in due course in respect of the cost of these works and sent to you for settlement.”

Devon County Council have now apologised for the letter and have withdrawn their demand for costs. A spokesman said: “This letter is a mistake and should not have been sent. We will not be asking the family to pay for the damage. We apologise to them for the concern and distress that this may have caused them.”

4 comments:

Hickory Johnson said...

the council has no good de-fence in the matter

L said...

I know that governments are looking to save money, but this is a bit ridiculous.

Maybe this family should turn around and sue the council for allowing wet leaves (an obvious safety hazard) to remain on the pavement.

Anonymous said...

well who is at fault

Anonymous said...

Noone is at fault. That's beside the point anyway. The council surely has insurance or a bit set aside for things like this and it was incredibly insensitive to demand payment. I could understand it if he'd deliberately vandalised it, but really, sometimes a bit of humanity and compassion is required.