Man, 73, hurt when foot fell through hole on Oldham road

Wasyl Kolesnikov, 73, was walking on Gibraltar Street when part of the pavement gave way, causing his leg to fall through the gravel.

What was left was a hole that showed a large pipe and darkness beyond that.

Mr Kolesnikov, a former martial arts instructor, suffered cuts to his knee and three fingers, as well as pain in his shoulder which he says still wakes him up at night.

The hole went unrepaired for around six weeks (Image: Wasyl Kolesnikov)

He said: "I was going to the shops and it was raining when my foot went through it.

"Someone else could have broken their leg or possibly worse."

The hole was covered up by a yellow trench cover for some weeks after Mr Kolesnikov injured himself on January 25 with the man worried that someone would fall through the hole if it was not covered up.

Wasyl said he could see a large pipe through the hole (Image: Wasyl Kolesnikov)

Last week, the hole was eventually covered, around six weeks after Mr Kolesnikov fell through it.

Cllr Hannah Roberts, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods, said in a statement before the hole was fixed, that the council was sorry to hear about the incident.

She said an inspector was on the site of the hole roughly an hour after the official complaint was received and the trench cover was put in place until the hole was permanently covered.

The hole has now been fixed (Image: Wasyl Kolesnikov)

Mr Kolesnikov said he was pleased that the issue had been resolved and that he hoped there would not be any issues in the future.