Posted online: Jul 27th, 2010

By Ciaran O’Neill
coneill@derrynews.net
COMPENSATION totaling almost £230,000 has been paid to 45 people who tripped on pavements in Derry in the last five years.
The single biggest compensation payment of £27,500 was paid out in the last year, according to figures uncovered by the Derry News for the number of successful personal injury footway claims in the last five years.
The claimants suffered a range of injuries after their falls on local footpaths.
The compensation is understood to take into account the injuries suffered and any time taken off work.
The figures reveal that a total of £228,096 has been paid out to pavement fall claimants in the Derry division of the Roads Service since 2005.
The highest total amount paid out in one year was £57,750 in the 2005/06 financial year.
The compensation payouts fell to £17,000 in 2008/09.
However, the number of compensation claims paid out in the Derry division rose by 300% in the past year, with a total of £54,250 being paid out to fall victims in the 2009/10 financial year.
No figures are available for the amount of successful claims this year so far.