Grandmother Wins Damages for Supermarket Fall

A grandmother has won substantial compensation for injuries she sustained when she slipped on a spillage at an ASDA superstore.

Patricia Hill, 73, was shopping at the Rivergate store in Peterborough when she slipped on what was thought to be vegetable matter, although she was not in the fruit and vegetable section at the time. She suffered a fracture to a bone in her knee, which necessitated fitting a cast covering her entire lower leg to stabilise the joint. Unfortunately, this caused a further stress fracture of her ankle so, when the cast was removed after four months, she had to have a further cast to repair the damage to her ankle.

In all, Mrs Hill, who lives in a first-floor flat, was virtually housebound for six months. During that time, she only left home for medical appointments. Her specialist has told her that it is likely she will have to have a knee replacement in the next five years and there is a 50 per cent chance that she will develop osteoarthritis.

The case was settled out of court for a substantial sum. It follows an earlier claim against the same store brought by a man who suffered soft tissue damage after he slipped on a fallen grape. He was awarded £10,500 in damages.

A spokeswoman for ASDA said, “We have thorough processes in place to ensure our store floors are kept clean to prevent anyone from slipping or falling. We’re very sorry that on this occasion we did not meet our own extremely high standards.”