A message mix-up has resulted in the wrong bit of north Norfolk pavement being repaired while a trip hazard remained a danger for nearly three weeks.

Norfolk County Council highways officials misunderstood the address of a dangerous area of pavement in Cromer - but found somewhere else to mend instead.

The council has now said sorry to Jackie Ferguson, who reported the danger patch after suffering a bad fall, and has promised to make it safe as soon as possible.

Miss Ferguson, 51, of Bond Street, Cromer, rang the council's customer service centre on February 9 after tripping on the raised edge of a sunken box on nearby Mount Street.

She ripped her jeans, bruised and grazed her knees and badly inflamed a bone below her thumb after putting out her hands to support her as she fell.

Her right hand is still painful and needs support, and the injury has meant she has not yet been able to return to work as a carer at Cromer's Halsey House residential home or pursue her health and social care diploma studies.

Miss Ferguson said she rang the council with details after her fall. 'The person didn't know Cromer or where Mount Street was so I said it was near Hans Place to try and help them locate it,' she added.

After re-visiting the site herself, she rang back the next day to give a better description. She also asked for a claim form so that she could apply for compensation to replace her jeans.

But she was furious when February 29 arrived and nothing had been done to repair the dangerous box, especially as was close to a sheltered flats complex where many elderly people lived and she had still not received a claim form.

A spokesman for the council apologised to Miss Ferguson for not making sure that

her second call was passed on to the area highways office and said they were trying to find out why it had gone astray.

Records showed that the council had gone to Hans Place, found the concrete fillet around a basement grill had come away, and repaired that.

He added: 'the fact that a defect was found and fixed in Hans Place meant that we didn't spot the problem in Mount Street.' A claim form would also now be sent to her.

He thanked Miss Ferguson for reporting the problem and said urgent and dangerous defects could be reported at any time on 0344 800 8009.