Lying on the pavement in agony Sue Moss said she "just knew" she had broken something falling badly in Helston town centre, as the result of a loose paving slab.

In fact she had fractured her pelvis in two places, which confined her to hospital for three weeks and left her in "excruciating pain" for many more weeks after.

Now, 15 months on, she has launched a campaign to fight for Cornwall Council to take responsibility and properly repair the pavements that she says remain dangerous today.

She wants to hear from anyone who has fallen on any of the pavements in Helston town centre, in order to build a report that she can pass to the council as evidence of the extent of the problem.

Sue, who lives off Meneage Street, said: "I need to find out how many people have had accidents in Helston, because it's just getting ridiculous now.

"I want them to make the street safe for everybody, especially the elderly."

It was March 30 last year - Good Friday - that Sue unsuspectingly stood on the pavement in Meneage Street, just past Oxfam, and a slab flipped up.

"I fell on a broken, unstable slab - although it looked stable. The slab came up on one side and it threw me," she said.

Already walking with crutches, a throwback to a car crash 50 years ago that almost cost Sue her life and left her having to learn to walk again, she lost her balance and fell heavily to the floor.

It resulted not only in the breaks to her pelvis, but in bladder and nerve damage, and she has still not recovered.

She will shortly travel to London for a fourth appointment with a pelvic specialist and may even need three rods put in her back.

Sue, 71, said despite the crutches she can quite easily walk on rough surfaces, such as at the beach, when she is prepared for it to be uneven - but it was the expectation that the pavement would be flat and stable that caused the problem.

She added that since the fall she had heard from a number of other people who had also hurt themselves falling on Helston's pavements, but "they're not doing anything about it."

She hopes that by compiling a report logging all the incidents, she can make a case to Cornwall Council.

"It's not right that they should be spending their money on jollies to the Mediterranean [£46,000 on a planning conference in 2018] and silk ties and whatever, when elderly people are having accidents.

"What is happening is they're waiting for people to have accidents and complain before they do something. And our rates keep going up," she added.

Her husband Steve Vowles has compiled a collection of photos showing the state of the pavements at the moment, marking 29 slabs that are loose, broken or uneven in Meneage Street and Coinagehall Street alone.

Anyone who has ever fallen on Helston's pavements, even if they were not badly injured, is asked to call Sue on 07899 956162. They don't have to give their name if they don't wish to, although a rough date of when they fell would be useful but not essential.

The Packet has contacted Cornwall Council for a response.