Boy ‘hurt on posts’ despite complaints

Friday 2nd October 2009, 10:38AM BST.

A Shrewsbury mum claims her two-year-old son has been injured in the garden of her home because a housing association has failed to remove old fence posts and tree stumps.

Samantha Hems, 19, from Harlescott Grange, moved into her home 18 months ago and said she contacted Severnside at the time to ask them to remove the 20 posts from her garden so her son Joshua Simpson could play outside.

She said despite repeated calls and booked appointments nobody came out to assess the situation and on Monday her son fell over in the garden, scratching his stomach and banging his head.

She said she had been told somebody would be coming out to see her from Severnside on September 7 but nobody turned up.

A person was sent out from Severnside to assess the situation on Tuesday following calls from the Shropshire Star. Severnside denied they had been contacted 18 months ago.

She said: “It is a death trap.”

Sue Groom, neighbourhood and community services director at Severnside Housing, said: “The issue of the fence posts was only reported to Severnside on Monday.”

She said Severnside took concerns over safety “very seriously” which is why it arranged the visit earlier this week.

She added that another meeting scheduled for the start of September was not directly related to the fence posts but was a tenancy check in relation to another matter.

View more: Harlescott news, Shrewsbury news.