A WOMAN who narrowly avoided serious injury when she stepped back into an uncovered drain has praised the actions of a heroic shopkeeper who rushed to her aid.

Jackie Spurr, 48, was left stuck when she stepped into the hole, which dropped some 8ft to 10ft.

There were no protective barriers surrounding the drain and the area was in near total darkness, with no street-lighting nearby.

She said: “It was so deep I couldn’t find any footing.

“I was stuck with one leg down the hole and couldn’t move.

“I have bruising up the side of my leg, but I’ll be okay.

“The worry is it could have been much worse, or if a child had fallen down there it could have been really serious.

“I am angry, I just stepped back and one leg went down.”

Quick-thinking convenience store owner Ahmed Muhammed was alerted to the fall by Miss Spurr’s friend, who rushed off to get help.

He leapt into action, working to free her from the hole about five to ten minutes after she became stuck.

Mr Muhammed, 58, who has owned the Willows Convenience Store for eight years, said: “Her friend came running into the shop and told me to go quickly and help her.

“I grabbed her by the arm and managed to get her out.

“I think she is very lucky she wasn’t really hurt and I hope she is doing okay. It is awful.”

Miss Spurr added: “I really just want to thank Ahmed for helping me, he was absolutely brilliant.

“I would also like to thank staff at the hairdressers who helped too.

“It is ironic as I have spent years previously working with drainage and manhole covers, now this happens. They had apparently been alerted to the hole that day, but there were no safety barriers in place.”

Engineers were working to repair the hole, off The Willows, Colchester, on Friday morning, following the incident at about 5.10pm on Thursday.

An Anglian Water spokesman said: “We take any report like this extremely seriously and our customer service teams are in touch with the customer.

“We’re very sorry to hear about the incident and wish her well.

“The manhole has been replaced and the incident is being thoroughly investigated.”