Drain made safe after woman's fall

A council has wished a "speedy recovery" to a woman who fell between 15ft (4m) to 20ft (6m) down a drain in the night which has now been safe.

Emergency services rescued the woman after being called to the pedestrian path on Princess Street in Plymouth, Devon, at about 00:50 BST on Sunday.

Plymouth City Council said it owned the drain but it was subject to a long-term lease to a third party "responsible for its maintenance".

The council highway teams has made the site safe temporarily and reminded the leaseholder it was "responsible" for reporting it to the Health and Safety Executive under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations 2013.

The authority also said the leaseholder was responsible for making the area safe.

On Tuesday, the council said the leaseholder had replaced the cover and its highways maintenance contractor had reopened the footway.

The leaseholder's identity has yet to be revealed to or found by the BBC.

The Health and Safety Executive said it had not yet received a report on the incident, but that the duty holder was still "well within the time frame to report it".

The council added: "We would like to send our very best wishes to the woman who fell and wish her a speedy recovery."

Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service said it believed the grating had been removed when the woman fell, who had been walking with a friend.

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