An elderly woman who fell and broke her arm just yards from her home in Bourne End has called on the council to fix the village’s pavements.

Maureen Hazael, 81, said she had “the most terrible accident” outside Costa Coffee on The Parade on January 18 which has left her with a number of injuries including cuts and bruises.

Mrs Hazael, who lives on nearby Howard Court, blames the uneven pavements on the stretch of the busy shopping street for her fall and says tree roots are breaking through the concrete.

She said: “I fell over the tree roots and landed on my front, people did help me and they sat me down in Costa but I was in shock, it was so terrible.

“I had to go off in an ambulance to Wexham Park Hospital, I had to sit in the corridor with no blanket.

“I got so many injuries, it was awful. I've got a terrific bruise on my leg and it’s getting larger and larger and my arm is broken.

“What has happened to my body is terrible. Before this accident I felt like I was 21, not 81.”

Following her hospital visit, Mrs Hazael was discharged at around midnight, leaving her son to come and pick her up as temperatures plunged to minus five degrees.

She added: “At 81, you do get a bit shivery. The worst thing is, I was only a few steps away from home when I fell over.

“The council needs to wake up. We need better pavements. A lot of people have complained about them. Please give us smooth pavements up and down The Parade.”

A Transport for Bucks spokesman said that while they were sorry to hear of Mrs Hazael’s accident, there is nothing they can do to help.

She said: “Whilst we are sorry to hear about Ms Hazael’s injuries, all that area is private land, not owned by Buckinghamshire County Council.

“We only maintain the flagstones immediately adjacent to the carriageway. These have been inspected as part of the routine inspection programme and there are no safety defects.

“Any issues with the adjacent land would need to be referred to the relevant landowner.”

It has not yet been confirmed who owns the land, however a representative for Costa Coffee has been contacted for comment.