A primary school caretaker has been awarded £6,700 in compensation after she slipped on a spillage and fractured her ankle.

Jean Simpson, who was 58 at the time of the accident, was walking across the dining room floor of the school when she slipped. Mrs Simpson’s right ankle was fractured in the fall and she had to have a cast applied, after which she underwent a course of physiotherapy.

As a result of the accident, she was unable to return to work for five months and had to cancel a pre-booked holiday to Florida.

The local council denied liability for the accident and so Mrs Simpson brought court proceedings. The council defended the claim by arguing that Mrs Simpson had in fact fallen in a part of the school that had non-slip flooring. However, the court heard that the floor of the dining room had been laid with thermoplastic tiles, as opposed to the non-slip flooring used elsewhere in the school, and rejected the council’s argument. In the court’s view, Mrs Simpson had fallen where she claimed to have fallen and this area was particularly slippery when wet. She was awarded £6,700 in compensation.