Steps taken to make town square safer after falls

Jul 3 2008 by John Rowbotham, Hamilton Advertiser

EXTRA safety measures have been introduced to Hamilton Town Square after an OAP was concussed in a fall there.

The edges of the upper square’s steps have been painted yellow to make them more visible to people using them.

The work was carried out after a number accidents.

One of them involved Winnie Vettraino, a 77-year-old widow who later wrote to South Lanarkshire Council demanding improvements.

Mrs Vettraino, of Oakmills, Hamilton, took a tumble as she was walking down the steps just before 3.30pm on December 3 last year.

Mrs Vettraino, a sports reflexologist who coaches tennis and badminton, said: “I didn’t see the edge of the steps and I caught it with my heel.

“I went down head first and banged my head and broke my glasses.”

She remained conscious but suffered a cut to her head.

Mrs Vettraino did not go to hospital but was diagnosed by a GP as having suffered concussion.

“It was a month before I could go back to work because I was having dizzy spells all the time,” she added.

“I was also having problems with my neck and visited a chiropractor who said I had damaged vertebrae in the fall.

“I was told I had been lucky not to have been paralysed.”

Mrs Vettraino, an honorary member of Hamilton Sports Council who walks 10 miles a week with pet dog Amber, had to fork out more than £300 in chiropractor fees.

While not planning legal action against the council, she wrote to them about the steps.

“After I had my accident, I heard about many other people who had fallen there and suffered broken bones,” she added.

“People say the steps are dangerous and have been since the square opened 10 years ago.

“Coming down, you look down and you don’t see the edge of the steps and that is what happened to me.”

A council spokesman said: “It was brought to our attention that some people were having difficulty using the steps leading down from the upper square area.

“These difficulties have led to incidents involving people tripping and falling.

“It was decided in the interim to highlight a section of each step with yellow paint to improve visibility.”

As the Advertiser reported last month, there are currently plans to revamp the upper area of the square at a cost of £413,000.

The work is due to start early next year and involves a remodelling of the steps to form a “semi-circular amphitheatre” with steps and a new pedestrian ramp.

After last week visiting the square, Mrs Vettraino welcomed the addition of the yellow lines painted along the edges of the steps.