Calls have been made to grit footpaths around an Oxford sheltered housing estate which pensioners claim become lethal in icy conditions.

Lillian Townsend, 73, was taken to the John Radcliffe Hospital when she fractured her ankle after falling on a snow-covered pavement in Seacourt Road, Botley.

Pensioners living on the 56-bungalow estate have said more needs to be done to stop their footpaths becoming an “ice rink” after other residents were lucky to avoid similar falls when they lose their footing in the snow.

Miss Townsend, who injured her ankle last Monday but was only released from hospital yesterday, said: “When there’s old people around a place like this it should be gritted.

“It’s been very slippy here for the last few winters and we often have to walk on the grass for safety.”

She now faces having her left ankle in plaster for six weeks.

Jill Brandini, 79, of Seacourt Road, said: “We’ve got boxes of salt and grit dotted around, but how the devil do they expect old people to go out and put shovels full of it down if the paths are slippy?”

Neighbour Ersilia Whiting, 71, who called an ambulance for Miss Townsend, said: “These houses belong to the Vale Housing Association, but not one person came up here to help us do anything.

“We should have some help from wardens.”

Miss Townsend’s sister-in-law Lavinia, of The Avenue in Kennington, said: “The paths were lethal.”

The Vale Housing Association (VHA) has said it will grit footpaths in Seacourt Road in future if it receives a request, but none had been made on this occasion.

Works manager Philip Small said: “We have only gritted paths over a number of years on request.

“We have always supplied and filled grit bins around OAP areas, mainly for scheme managers or residents to use, which we checked and filled early in December.

“VHA does not have a policy to grit paths on a regular basis, but we would respond to individual requests from scheme managers or tenants.”

Oxfordshire County Council is responsible for gritting the roads, including Seacourt Road, and what it calls ‘priority’ areas, such as shopping centres.

Thames Valley Police said there had been 67 crashes yesterday, which was three times the daily average.

A total of 463 traffic-related incidents were recorded in the first 12 hours of yesterday, compared with 102 a week earlier.

cwalker@oxfordmail.co.uk