AN ILL grandmother who was taken to hospital after slipping and falling on an ungritted road is to seek compensation from Waltham Forest Council.

Marianne Jones, 55, of Mount Pleasant Road, Walthamstow, who is suffering from severe bronchitis, was walking to the doctor's surgery in Penrhyn Avenue when she slipped on black ice. She was taken to Whipps Cross University Hospital where she was treated for concussion and a cut to the head.

She said: “I had already slipped about three times and decided to cross the road to see whether it was any better on the other side.

“But when I stepped out I felt my feet go from under me and my head hit the road.

“I felt giddy and scared, two men helped me to my feet and a lady called Maria waited with me for an ambulance.”

She said she is still feeling the effects of the accident, which happened on December 23.

She added: “The doctor said the symptoms can last a while, I still feel dizzy, I don't want to wash my hair because if I put my head down I feel giddy.”

Mrs Jones is angry that many of the roads in the area were not gritted despite the freezing conditions.

She said: “It is very bad, lots of people use the roads near the doctor's surgery.”

Mrs Jones said she wants to thank the two men who helped her to her feet following the accident.

Details of Mrs Jones' accident have emerged after the authority was criticised for not adequately gritting the roads.

Cllr Matt Davis, Conservative group leader, said the authority had failed to take “basic, common sense precautions” in not gritting the roads ahead of the cold weather, or ensuring grit bins were filled.

Guardian readers reported seeing cars sliding off roads around Kings Head Hill, Chingford, and an elderly woman was left lying in the snow for 45 minutes with a broken arm.

A council spokesman said six gritters were out prioritising routes to hospitals, bus stations, hilly routes and main roads.

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