AN elderly man had to be rescued when his powered buggy overturned on a section of dug-up pavement in Christchurch.

Holidaymaker Sue Gaskin, from Derbyshire, said 100-yard sections of the pavement on both sides of the road at Stanpit had been excavated, leaving people in wheelchairs with nowhere to go.

She said the elderly man had been tipped from his vehicle when he tried to drive it up a slope.

He was unable to get himself back on to the buggy.

Mrs Gaskin and husband Greg went to his aid.

She said: "He was trying to manoeuvre it and it had tipped him over. We got him up and into the buggy.

"We travelled down the road behind him to a house in Argyle Road he was visiting.

"If it had been in the dark he would have been there all night," said Mrs Gaskin, who telephoned Christchurch Borough Council to complain about having both pavements dug up at the same time.

The excavated pavement was not the responsibility of the council but of Scottish and Southern Energy, which is carrying out works throughout the Borough.

A spokesperson said: "Southern Electric Lighting Services is extremely concerned to hear that a member of the public had problems passing our work in Mudeford.

"As soon as we were made aware of the situation by the local authority, we immediately visited the site and installed ramps.

"The site itself complies with safety policy.

"The correct signage is in place to advise that the footpath is closed to pedestrians and we made sure that an alternative footpath has always been available for pedestrians to use."