A RUNNER suffered appalling injuries after stumbling into metal spikes which vandals had wrenched out of metal railings beside a busy Carlisle road.

Kevin McClintock, 37, who manages a popular city centre cafe bar and does all of its baking, has been left unable to work because of his injuries.

They include a shattered elbow and wrist, and two cracked ribs.

Doctors expect him to be away from work for up to 12 weeks.

He is now considering legal action against Cumbria County Council.

The accident happened as he was running along Georgian Way on Tuesday, November 26 shortly before 7pm, along what he says was a partially lit section of pavement between street lamps.

“I normally run for five miles, and know that route really well,” said Mr McClintock, who is general manager of Whyte’s Cafe Bar in Carlyle’s Court, Carlisle.

“I was looking ahead as I have no reason to look down unless there are wet leaves and I need to be careful.

“The next thing I knew I was flat on the ground.”

When he got back to his feet, he immediately saw the railing spikes, which had been bent and pushed into a horizontal position so they protruded across the lower part of the pavement.

“Somehow someone had cut and bent to the ground six of the bars,” he said. “I’ve no idea why anybody would do that. I was in pain: it was horrific.”

Despite the pain, he made his way to the Sands Centre to seek help. The injury meant two visits to The Cumberland Infirmary - the first occasion just after the accident, when he was in A&E until 3.30am; and then a second hospital visit a few days later.

The impact of the injury has been profound, he said.

He said: “I’m a baker by trade and do all of the baking for our cafe: I bake all the cakes and make everything we sell on site. We’re coming up to Christmas and our busiest time and because of this we’ve had to take somebody else on to do the baking.

“We’ve had to take somebody on for the Christmas period. It’s obviously going to cost. The point is that I could have been killed if my head had hit the pavement. This is also potentially going to harm my career.”

Mr McClintock, of Pennington Drive, Stanwix, has for the time being had to give up both swimming and running. He normally runs 30 to 40 miles a week and this year completed the London Marathon.

He reported the damaged railings the following morning, and said they were repaired by County Council workmen within an hour.

Mr McClintock is now considering legal action. Cumbria County Council declined to comment while Cumbria Police said that the force is treating what happened to the fence as criminal damage but accepted they have no leads. Anybody who can identify the vandals should contact police.