THE story of David Halford and the shocking accident he had while riding his bike in Cam this April raises an interesting debate around the subject of liability.

Mr Halford complained to Severn Trent Water, the company responsible for maintaining the manhole cover he claims caused his accident, only to receive what he considered a disappointing response.

It would be “impractical”, they said, for them to keep an eye on all their manhole covers, checking whether or not they needed work. Instead, the company said they worked on the covers by responding to complaints from members of the public.

So then who is liable for the injuries suffered by Mr Halford? Is it Severn Trent Water? Is it everybody who walked past the crumbled man hole and didn’t report it? Or is it Mr Halford himself?

Certainly it is not Mr Halford’s fault. There was no way he could have known the cover was in such a bad shape when he travelled down Manor Avenue. Neither is it the fault of anybody who walked past – people have their own lives and can’t be asked to be responsible for every aspect of the world around them.

So that leaves us with Severn Trent, though this is where the question becomes tricky, because anybody with a pinch of common sense can see the difficulty and expense that would arise from frequent checks of manhole covers across the county.

Bemoaning the consequences of this situation is easy. Establishing a means of avoiding such accidents in future is much harder.