Girl hit by tile from leisure centre roof

Published on 19th April 2007 in News

A father was left outraged at the weekend when his young daughter had to be rushed to hospital after a ceiling tile fell onto her head at Goole Leisure Centre.

The man, who does not wish to be named, contacted the Goole Times this week to express his anger and disgust after his seven-year-old daughter was left injured while at a friend's Christening party at the town's leisure centre on Sunday.

He said that as the family made their way up the stairs to one of the first-floor suite, a ceiling tile, made from compressed wood, came crashing down and hit the young girl on the head, knocking her to the floor.

The young girl's father told the Goole Times that he rushed his daughter to Goole Hospital after blood started to run from the top of her head to her shoulders.

He said: "I have been told that this kind of incident has happened before, and I am very concerned as to the condition of the rest of the ceiling tiles in the centre. The centre should be shut down as soon as possible and all the tiles renewed, because I am concerned that this incident could happen again and have more severe consequences.

"The Goole people should know what the condition of their leisure centre is like - it seems to me that no money is being spent on maintenance."

And the father added that he was 'disgusted' that nobody from Goole Leisure Centre had contacted him following Sunday's incident to make sure his daughter was recovering well.

However, as we went to press a representative from East Riding of Yorkshire Council (ERYC), which owns Goole Leisure Centre, contacted the family to check the girl's condition.

Girl 'afraid' to return

The injured youngster had her cut treated in hospital, but was shaking in fear at the thought of returning to the Leisure Centre after the incident because she was convinced that the incident might happen again.

A spokesperson for ERYC told the Goole Times that it was 'unfair' to say that negligence or a lack of investment in the leisure centre was to blame for the incident.

The spokesperson said: "This was a very unfortunate incident which was dealt with in the first instance by one of our first-aiders, before the girl was taken to Goole Hospital. Our duty manager spoke to the girl's mum when they returned to the party from the hospital. This was to fill in the accident form and to see how the girl was.

"A contractor has been brought in to check all the ceiling tiles. It is unfair to suggest this very unfortunate accident was a result of negligence or lack of investment in the centre. Hundreds of thousands of pounds have been spent on the building in recent years and at present work is starting on new changing facilities on the pool side for people with disabilities, new heating units for the dryside facilities and the renewal of air conditioning units."

The Health and Safety Executive has been informed of the incident.