A young mum had a narrow escape when a shop sign crashed down in high winds.
Danielle Parkinson was terrified after she and her daughter had a close shave with a large Post Office that sign fell down whilst they were out with a friend.
Danielle said that she and her nine-month-old daughter, Isabelle, were lucky to escape without any injuries when the six-foot Marsh Post Office crash-landed in front of her on October 20, causing shoppers to stop and stare.
Danielle, 21, who was left in shock, said that it hit her stomach on the way down and is worried about her own and other people’s safety.
The incident occurred after higher winds than normal blew through Westbourne Road, where the shop lies, as a result of the tail end of Hurricane Gonzalo.
Danielle, who lives in nearby Reed Street and was visiting the store to take out some money at around 10.30am, said: “If I had been pushing my daughter in front of me, it would have hit her, it’s frightening to think about.
“It just suddenly dropped and hit me but the shock took over any pain it may have caused.
“You don’t expect that sort of thing to happen when you’re going to the shops-it’s only a post office and you shouldn’t come back from it with injuries-it’s ridiculous.
“And it took two members of staff to move it inside, which shows how large and weighty it was.”
She then alleges that staff failed to apologise when she told them what had happened.
Danielle, said: “They just didn’t show any courtesy at all and one of the staff just said that it must not have been fixed on properly.
“The whole incident has made me worried about the safety of signs outside shops-shop owners should make sure that their signs are fixed on properly-wind is not an excuse for them to fall off.”
A spokesman from the shop maintained that the sign, which has not yet been put back in its place, had been adequately secured.
He said: “The shop is safe and it could have been down to the high winds we had but anything could have caused it.
“We called out a company straight away who have been to evaluate it and they will securely re-fit it.
“But we have CCTV to show that the sign didn’t hit her and I apologised to her when she was inside the shop myself.”