"Frightening": excavation in Gateshead Road continued this week as engineering firm Balfour Beatty launched an investigation into the incident involving a blind man and his guide dog
A blind man has spoken of his shock after he fell into a hole created by roadworks in a Borehamwood street.
John Cooper was walking along Gateshead Road two weeks ago with his guide dog, Faith, when the pair dropped into the three-foot deep hole, which is believed to have contained sewage.
The 60-year-old, who is chairman of governors at Merryfield Primary School, received minor injuries and said the accident highlighted the potential dangers for blind people walking around the town.
Last month, partially-sighted 93-year-old Jack Gardner, received £8,500 compensation from Hert-fordshire County Council after tripping on an uneven paving slab in Shenley Road.
Balfour Beatty, the engineering company which was carrying out the work around Gateshead Road, has launched an investigation into the incident on April 19.
Mr Cooper, of Oakwood Avenue, said the accident, which he reported to Hertfordshire Highways, was "very frightening" and it was lucky he had not been more seriously injured.
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He said: "There were some excavations to do with water works, and they were across the width of the pavement. I basically just fell straight in.
"There were no barriers or hazard warnings. Some people who live nearby saw me fall and helped me get out.
"I am reasonably fit for my age, so I landed on my feet, in what I assumed was water and mud, but on the following Tuesday I had a call from the contractors saying it had been sewage.
"I went to A&E and had to have injections for tetanus and diphtheria. It is not life-threatening and I will recover, but I have leg injuries, cuts and bruises.
"We had to take Faith to the vet. We have been together for five-and-a-half years and have not had an accident before."
Faith, a Labrador golden retriever cross, is trained to negotiate Mr Cooper around obstacles such as cones or dustbins, but was unable to anticipate the hole due to the lack of safety barriers.
Mr Cooper, who was registered blind in 1998, is due to meet a representative from the Guide Dogs for the Blind Association next week to assess whether Faith will need to be retrained.
A spokeswoman for the association said: "Faith had a 100 per cent safety record but because there were no obstacle signals to her, she would not have recognised it as the significant danger it was.
"We run a campaign to encourage people to be responsible and remove pedestrian obstacles to make the streets safer for blind and partially sighted people."
Hertfordshire Highways suggested vandalism may have been involved.
A spokesman said: "We were sorry to hear about this incident and can confirm that our response crew attended, following an emergency call out.
"The crew made two visits: on the first, they inspected Gateshead Road - where a number of excavations were being carried out by Balfour Beatty - but found no obvious problems.
"However, they found some evidence of vandalism near an excavation in the verge on Brook Road.
"On the second visit they went back and found some barriers next to an excavation across the footway on the junction with Stannington Path had been moved. These barriers had been in place during the crew's first visit."
The authority could not comment further due to Balfour Beatty's on-going investigation.
A spokeswoman for the engineering company said the incident was "unfortunate" and added: "The health and safety of the public and our workforce are the prime concern of Balfour Beatty."
Hertfordshire Constabulary confirmed Mr Cooper had reported the fall to police but said officers would not be taking any action.
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