A MOTHER has called for seats at train stations across the North West to be inspected after she sustained severe bruising when a bench she was using gave way.

Cathy Heaton suffered concussion, cuts and bruises after she fell through a seat at Church and Oswaldtwistle Railway Station on Tuesday while she waited for a train to Burnley with her two young children.

According to an eye-witness, Cathy spent several minutes crawling around on the floor in a daze. She remembers nothing about the minutes after she crashed through it, only remembering when someone asked if she was all right.

Despite contacting Railtrack and First North Western Trains, which operates the stations, nothing has been done to the seat, which now has several sharp edges to it. Cathy said: "The seat is just a mangled wreck now. It has really shaken and hurt me. I was literally perched on the edge of it and leant back and it just gave way.

"The next thing I remember is being on the floor with someone asking me if I was OK. The doctors say I was quite lucky."

The cantilever seat Cathy was sitting on is a common sight on many railway stations throughout the country.

Cathy added: "It looked perfectly safe to me. If it can happen once, it could happen again. My eldest son, Andrew, who is six, was sitting next to me at the time. He was very lucky not to be hurt.

"I reported it straight away but when I went back there nothing had been done to seal it off and it is dangerous now. I think checks need carrying out to make sure there isn't a design fault on them."

A spokesman for Railtrack said: "Church and Oswaldtwistle Railway Station is operated by First North Western because they run the services from that station. While we appreciate Mrs Smith's anger, there is little we can do about it."

A spokesman for First North Western said: "We will be looking into it but, at this stage, it is too early to say what action we will be taking."