A TWO-minute trip to the post box left this grandmother bruised and battered.

Pamela Heard looks as if she has been beaten by a mugger after tripping on a raised paving slab near her flat.

Mrs Heard, 69, has been too embarrassed to go out because her face is covered with bruises sustained in the fall.

She was walking to a letter box yards from her home in Cranfield Road, Bexhill, when she tripped on the slightly-raised slab.

She said: I must have hurtled two or three paces head-first before skidding along the pavement on my forehead.

Blood was gushing from my nose profusely. I felt the whole world was looking at me as I lay on the ground.

The paving slab wasnt even very high but I look like I have been beaten black and blue by a senseless thug.

Mrs Heard, a grandmother of three and a great-grandmother of one, managed to walk the short distance home to her shocked husband Anthony, 71.

Her face swelled almost immediately and that night she visited her doctor who told her to calm it with a bag of frozen peas.

Mrs Heard has sought legal advice against East Sussex County Council. A decision on whether legal action will be pursued against the authority is expected within the next seven days.

She said: There are a lot of elderly people as well as disabled and young people in Bexhill yet the pavements have always been bad round here.

Only yesterday I walked out around town and saw so many uneven paving slabs. Its a real danger and something should be done.

Lots of other work is being done around Bexhill, such as in Barnhorn Road, yet I think the council should get the pavements sorted out as a matter of priority.

The fall came at the worst possible time for Mrs Heard.

The day after, she attended a school reunion with old friends from St Marys Church of England School in Ninfield.

Her bruised, swollen face was the talk of the party.

She said: People at the reunion either ignored me or recoiled in horror. They couldnt believe I got such terrible injuries from a paving slab. I looked a right sight.

The council has said all footways in Bexhill are inspected at least every six months. Those used most regularly are checked once a month.

Only paving slabs which are raised higher than one inch are considered for improvement.

The council is investing an extra £300,000 across East Sussex on footway renewal, kerbing and improving disabled facilities.

A spokesman said: The county council inspects all its pavements on a regular basis.

The frequency of inspection depends on their use, with the most heavily-used inspected the most frequently as they receive the most wear and tear.

All the footways in Bexhill are inspected at least every six months and the ones used the most on a monthly basis.

The inspection frequencies adopted by the county council compare favourably with those published in a national code of practice for maintenance management.

These inspections are undertaken to identify defects which exceed the county standard.

Where defects are found that exceed the standards then remedial measures are instigated. In the case of the majority of footways this is a 25mm (1 inch) trip.

Unfortunately the county council currently does not have the resources to implement a lower footway trip standard.

However, in recognition of the publics concerns that the condition of footway surfaces was a priority, an extra £300,000 is being invested countywide this year.