Dad in manhole tumble wrangle

INJURED . . . Stuart Fraser near the manhole

A FATHER broke his wrist and chipped a bone in his ankle after falling waist-deep down a manhole.

Stuart Fraser (31), of Blackshaw Lane Royton, said he stood on the manhole cover when it suddenly tipped up and he fell down.

Mr Fraser, a part-time baker, said: “I was in shock, but I managed to haul myself out even though my ankle was swollen and sore.

The manhole is outside AC Aerials Shop, in Shaw Road, close to where Mr Fraser had parked his car on spare land.

“I was covered in faeces so drove home, had a shower and came back to speak to the shop owner, before going to the Royal Oldham Hospital.

“I didn’t realise I’d damaged my wrist until I got to hospital.”

Mr Fraser: “I spoke with the owner of the shop who said he had reported the loose cover to the council a few times, but nothing had happened.

“He said he’d tried to keep customers off the manhole by putting his wheelie bins over it, but Friday, when I fell down, was collection day and the bins had been moved.

A spokesman for Oldham Council said land registry checks showed the shop was responsible for the manhole cover as it services its drains.

However, the shop manager, who did not want to be identified, said he believed the land was unadopted. He said: “It is not our land, it is just land that is alongside our shop.

“The council let BT put a phone box on the land, if it was my land I’d be taking rent for that.”