TWO men allege they needed hospital treatment after part of a house wall being refurbished by council sub-contractors fell on top of them.

Ironically, one of the men, Sean Gallagher, who lives in the house, had telephoned the council just hours earlier to tell them that the wall was bowed and didn't look safe.

Sean (37) had returned to his home in Duncan Avenue on the Fairbrother Estate, Newton-le-Willows, at about 3pm on Tuesday, August to discover that the wall at the side of his home had bowed where builders had put in a window.

He told the Star: "I could see there was a problem with the wall as soon as I came home from work, so I rang the council and they said they would come out to look at it the following day.

"But in the evening a neighbour, Sean Cockroft called round for a cup of tea and as I opened the front door the dog got out and I went out to get him. The next thing I knew was that Sean was yelling at me and then he pushed me out the way.

"Then, about 15 to 20 bricks came crashing down on us and Sean was knocked out. Another friend who was in the house at the time, Ernie Williams, came out to see what had happened and helped us to our feet. When I looked up I couldn't believe what had happened, the bricks had just fallen out the wall." The two injured men were treated at Warrington General Hospital. Sean Gallagher had suffered damage to his right shoulder, arm and elbow, and he also had neck and back injuries, while 18-year-old Sean Cockroft, also from Duncan Avenue, suffered concussion, cuts, grazes and a badly-strained neck.

A council spokesman said: "The council is saddened to hear of this incident and is naturally concerned when one of our tenants reports an injury to themselves such as this. Officers have visited Mr Gallagher, though it is too early at this stage to comment on why this happened.

"The wall has been made safe again and further discussions are taking place with the contractor and the council's health and safety officers to identify how this unusual occurence came about."