SAFETY concerns about measures to protect the public from construction work in Sussex Square were raised after an elderly man fell down a 5ft deep trench.

Work to give the Walcot centre a makeover began earlier this year as part of long-awaited £10m regeneration plan for the site, and barriers have been placed around the works to protect the public from dangerous debris and work in progress.

But, on Saturday, fire and ambulance crews were called to the square after a man, believed to be aged 63 and partially sighted, fell down the hole.

Swindon Borough Council has said the man moved fencing in place to prevent such falls.

Wiltshire Fire and Rescue were called to the scene at around 9.34am and spent were there for an hour trying to help the man from the trench, which measures around 1.5m deep by 1m wide.

Workmen and paramedics were already on the scene when the crew from Swindon fire station arrived and the man was rescued from the hole with a stretcher, lifted by a forklift truck, and He was then taken to Great Western Hospital by the South West Ambulance Service.

Peter Mallinson, chairman of the Walcot Charity Shop and Library, was on the scene shortly after the incident.

“The contractors have dug a big trench right across the road and an old guy fell down it. It was about six foot deep and he was right at the bottom of it,” he said.

“I think he is partially sighted and he moved the barrier and instead of going around it he just walked straight into it.

“The fire service came along and got him out and then he was on his way to the GWH.

“What they are saying is that he moved the barrier and just kept walking.

“It just makes you wonder if this can happen to one person it could happen to another person.”

Peter added that if the charity shop could help the gentleman, either with clothing or toiletries or other items, he should contact them through the shop.

Shortly after the incident the red plastic barriers around the hole were replaced with tall steel barriers by contractors Willmott Dixon Housing Ltd.

A spokesman from Swindon Borough Council said: “At the weekend A local resident decided to move the safety barriers around a part of the building site to take a short cut and fell into a trench.

“The contractor had rightly assumed that the presence of the barriers would indicate a potential hazard and that pedestrians should take the alternative route.

“Now this has happened they have had to install fencing that is more difficult to move. They shouldn’t have had to do this, but if people can’t see that barriers are there for their own safety, it is unfortunately necessary.”

Demolition of the derelict flats around the Walcot development began in earnest in March, and so far one block of flats has been demolished.

The plans will see 14 shops, 33 houses and flats, a charity shop and library that have made up the district centre since 1958 flattened and replaced with 34 new houses and 14 flats, with parking and landscaping, by 2018.

There will also be a number of retail units on the new site, and the plans leave scope for the library and charity shop to be accommodated.

Work has now begun on the first commercial premises and car park, which are being built on the site of the former Bulldog pub.