A disabled veteran was thrown to the ground when his wheelchair toppled over on an uneven pavement.

Brian Whittaker was on his way home from going to speak to his local MP about the state of Brighton and Hove's pavements.

Brian, who lives in Hove, had just been to the office of Hove MP Peter Kyle in Church Road.

However, as he passed Hove Crown Court in Holland Road, the 71-year-old found the pavement hard to navigate due to a large number of exposed tree roots.

“It was like being in a boat in a force ten gale and my poor wheelchair just couldn’t handle it,” he said.

“It turned over on to its side and threw me on to the ground. I had an injury to my arm - I was lucky it wasn’t broken as the wheelchair is quite heavy.

“I could have cut my leg and bled to death.”

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Fortunately for Brian, passersby were quick to help, with one man lifting him back up and a woman supporting him with a first aid kit.

His electric wheelchair was damaged in the incident.

Brian had wanted to speak to Peter Kyle about the poor state of the city's pavements but when he got to the office he found it was closed.

He later received a letter from Mr Kyle on the matter, who said he had contacted Cityclean and urged it to look into the issue “as a matter of urgency”.

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He said: “I completely understand how frustrating this must be - particularly when they put people’s safety at risk.”

Brian, who served as a corporal in the Royal Engineers, said he is not the only person affected by the treacherous state of the pavements and demanded the city council take action.

He said: “Where is all of our council tax money going?”

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It comes as the new Labour council in the city promise to launch a “war on weeds” and provide “safe pavements”.

The former Green administration drew criticism after a scheme called on “weed warrior” volunteers to clear weeds themselves from the city’s 975,000km of pavements due to a national shortage of manual workers.

The Argus: Brian said pavements across the city are in terrible conditionBrian said pavements across the city are in terrible condition (Image: Andrew Gardner / The Argus)

Brighton and Hove City Council said inspectors would survey the area for problems and urged anyone to report any issues so action can be taken.

A council spokesman said: “We are very sorry to hear of this incident and we hope Mr Whittaker makes a speedy recovery.

“We carry out regular inspections of our pavements following national best practice to ensure they are safe to use.

“We would ask residents to report any issue or concerns via our website so that action can be taken.

“We have not so far received a report with a specific location about this incident.

“One of our inspectors will visit the area as soon as possible to check for problems with the pavement surfaces.”