Man injured as pier gives way (From Penarth Times)

Man injured as pier gives way

A MAN walking on Penarth Pier said he feared the worst when one of the boards gave way beneath his feet.

Mark Williams, aged 44, said he was walking on the pier one evening last week when a rotten plank gave way, causing his one leg to go crashing through the structure, damaging his knee ligaments.

Mr Williams, of Hardy Close, Barry, said: "The plank was rotten and as I stood on it my leg went crashing through.

"It scared me to death. I thought I was going through and was going to end up in the sea.

"I was taken to hospital by ambulance and doctors told me that I"ve badly damaged my ligaments. I can only walk now with the help of a stick.

"There are a lot of older people who like to walk on the pier. If it had happened to one of them I think it could have done a lot more damage.

"They have already now replaced the board I went through but others are still soft."

Cllr Mark Wilson said: "I have very serious concerns about the state of the pier.

"The Vale of Glamorgan Council has simply not spent enough money on maintaining it.

"It has been given a very low priority by the current Conservative administration. I am very sorry to hear that someone has been injured because of it.

"Since 1999 the Vale has spent less than £10,000 on the pier whereas a report to the Vale economic scrutiny committee recommended that nearly £1m should be spent on it."

A spokesperson for the Vale of Glamorgan council said: "The Council would like to extend its apologies to Mr Williams that a single deflective section of the pier's decking resulted in this unfortunate accident.

"We can assure Mr Williams, and all future users of the pier, that regular inspections of the pier are undertaken to ensure it is in a safe state of repair.

"Where repairs or replacement parts are required, the works are carried out immediately.

"Every reasonable effort is made to ensure the pier is safely maintained for the host of users and visitors.

"The Council is, however, implementing an additional extensive inspection of all the pier's decking and will replace any pieces considered to represent a potential risk to the safety of users."