Bloodied Samuel Lavington, 88, from Hawkins Road, Tilgate, suffered two black eyes and needed seven stitches in his forehead – after plunging headfirst over a 'poorly maintained' pavement slab.

And now grandad-of-16 Samuel says he's too frightened to go out in case he falls over again.

He said: "It was quite a shock. I mean, I'm 88 and a lot of old boys wouldn't be able to cope with something like this.

"It must have been around 9.30pm. I was walking back with my neighbour and I suddenly just went over, straight onto my face."

A spokesman from West Sussex County Council said: "The incident was reported to us on June 25.

"The site was visited and work is in hand to ensure the pavement in question is safe for users. We are concerned when any incident such as this is reported to us, and we are grateful that being made aware of it allowed us to act quickly."

Full story in the Observer