Edith Millington

I am Andrew Bridgman, Assistant Coroner, for the coroner area of Manchester South

On 16.10.25 an inquest was opened into the death of Edith Millington who died at Salford Royal Hospital on 09.09.25. The inquest concluded on 24.03.26. Medical Cause of Death 1a) Traumatic Intracranial Haemorrhage Paroxysmal Atrial Fibrillation The conclusion was one of Accidental Death

EM was a 90 years old, fairly independent, lady who had some mobility issues but was  able to get out and about in the community on a mobility scooter, coupled with the use of a walking stick. On 09.09.25 EM can be seen on CCTV footage arriving outside the PK Convenience  Store, 25 Croft Bank Road, Urmston.  The said store is owned by SAI SKN Ltd.  EM can be seen getting off her mobility scooter and with a walking stick in hand attempts to enter the store, when she falls striking her head. The store has, at its entrance, a metal ramp said to be present to enable access for  wheel users.  The width of the ramp is door-width and it is circa half that in depth, which makes quite a slope.  The ramp is not fixed to the ground as it is removed each night. On top of the ramp is a rubber mat which is not fixed to the ramp.  There are no handrails on the outside of the door frame.  The handrails, I was told, are about 6-9  inches inside the doorway. The CCTV shows EM stepping on to the ramp one foot at a time. As she attempts to  move off the ramp into the store she holds on to the door frame, it seems that the  handrails are too far away. As she does this she appears to lose her balance and then the rubber mat moves, although it may be that the mat moves first, at this point she is  unable to steady herself holding on to the door frame with one hand and falls to the  ground. I understand that this incident was reported to you.  I have no doubt that you would have requested sight of the CCTV footage.

The evidence, today, of your store supervisor [REDCATED] was that the ramp remains  exactly as it was on the day of EM’s fatal accident. It is my opinion that the structure/design of the ramp makes it unsafe.  In particular that the ramp itself is not fixed or secured to the ground (not even semi-fixed so that it can be removed at the end of the day), that the rubber mat is not fixed and can easily move (as  seen), there are no external easily accessible handrails, and the ramp is too short  making the slope steeper. The issue of concern is that unless action is taken to render access to the store by way  of a safer design of ramp then there is a high risk of a customer, particularly a customer with mobility issues, suffering a similar and fatal fall as EM.

In my opinion action should be taken to prevent the risk of future deaths and I believe you have the power to take such action.