Council delay could have caused tragedy

Jun 13 2008 by Alison Anderson

THE mother of a four-year-old girl who fell into an open drain while playing near her North Muirton home has slammed the authorities for not taking immediate action to cover the hazard after it was reported by a neighbour.

Sophia Whytock was very distressed, bruised and scraped – and her clothes and shoes were ruined – in the Tuesday evening incident.

But her mum, Gayle Sharp, is only too aware that a tragedy could have occurred.

“Sophia has epilepsy,” said Gayle, “and if she had fallen head first into the drain it could have triggered an epileptic attack and she could have drowned.”

“As it was, some other kids playing in the area helped her out. She was screaming.

“Her clothes and trainers were covered in sewerage and she was stinking.

“When we got her home we immediately put her into the bath with antiseptic.

“She had scrapes and bruises and her clothes were ruined but it could all have been so much worse.”

Gayle, who lives in Lingay Court, explained that the broken drain cover had been reported earlier that day: “A neighbour had noticed that the drain cover was broken on Tuesday morning and had phoned Perth and Kinross Council at about 8.40am.

“But when someone from Scottish Water, which is responsible for the drain, came to put a temporary cover on it after Sophia had fallen in, he told me the call to attend to it had only just been received.

“The guy from Scottish Water was really nice and told me it was that authority’s responsibility to fix the drain, but he also said that regardless of whose responsibility it was, the council should have at least come out and made it safe.”

A Scottish Water spokesperson confirmed the timescale given by Gayle and yesterday told the PA: “Scottish Water was first notified that a manhole cover in the North Muirton area was missing at 6.45pm on Tuesday. It was reported that children were playing at the opening of the manhole. Engineers were rapidly on site – within 15 minutes – at 7pm to make the area safe.

“On arrival at the site, the manhole cover was found inside the chamber and was cracked and broken. Barriers were erected, debris that had been thrown down the manhole was removed to avoid blockages occurring and the area was made safe. Further safety precautions are being put in place and an extra heavy duty manhole cover was being fitted today (Thursday).

“There are a number of cracked and damaged manhole covers in the area and we are appealing to the public to immediately report damaged them to our customer help line on 0845 601 8855 . Investigations are being carried out to establish why so many manhole covers in the one area are damaged.

“Scottish Water apologises for the distress caused to the girl and her family who fell down the manhole. To avoid further accidents, we would like to take this opportunity, to urge parents to advise their children of the dangers of playing on and around manhole covers.”

A Perth and Kinross Council spokesperson told the PA why the drain remained uncovered throughout the day on Tuesday: “The council's Housing Repairs Centre received an initial call regarding the missing cover on Tuesday morning.

“The information we received at that time did not indicate that the matter was urgent and therefore the process of repair was actioned straightaway but not on the basis of it being urgent.

“A further call was made to the repairs centre's out of hours service at 6.15pm on the same day and the caller was directed to contact Scottish Water as this was a manhole on the mains drainage system and their responsibility.

“We are aware that Scottish Water acted that evening to put in temporary measures to make the area safe. We have assisted Scottish Water in the subsequent replacement of the manhole cover.”