A MAN who suffered two black eyes after tripping on a paving slab has been told no action will be taken.

Karl Miller, 55, was left in extreme pain after tripping over what he claims was an uneven paving slab outside Braintree Town Hall in July.

Mr Miller, who landed face-first on the floor, sustained two black eyes and a head wound as a result.

After waiting three months for Essex County Council to reply to his letter of complaint, he has been told no further action will be taken.

The letter dated October 12 read: "Following notification of your incident, an ad hoc inspection of the site took place on August 18 where the site was inspected and risk assessed and no defects were noted.

"The investigatory level is 20mm and therefore, it may be that the slab in question did not reach this level and was therefore not recorded."

It is the second time Mr Miller has been badly injured following a trip on the town’s pavements.

Mr Miller, who worked as an HGV driver with Braintree Council for more than 30 years, also suffered a fall in Market Square more than two years ago, leaving him with a blood clot and a fractured skull and no sense of taste or smell.

Mr Miller said: "I am so disgusted with Essex County Council, I received this letter on Monday after waiting three months for a reply.

"My fall was on July 17 on the loose slabs and they have said on inspection they are all ok.

"Whoever inspected them must be blind or stupid - how many more people are going to fall by Essex County Council's failure to maintain the highways.

"I know someone who works for ECC and I know how much money they waste on things.

"Since the fall I have been having bad headaches and memory loss. I will be appealing the decision and won't give up."

A spokesman for Essex Highways said: "We wish this gentleman a full recovery following this incident. We are aware of this report, but investigated at the time and could not find a defect at the location he described.

"Work has however been carried out recently on several other nearby defects and we are also developing a plan to deal with issues on the High Street caused by heavy vehicles using the road."