Paddington station: Commuter gets £27k for 'possible pigeon poo slip' By Thomas Mackintosh

BBC News, London Published duration 7 August 2019

image copyright Getty Images image caption A total of £136,585-worth of compensation claims paid out by Network Rail happened at London Paddington

A commuter received £27,602 from Network Rail after "possibly slipping" on pigeon poo at Paddington station.

Data obtained by the BBC has revealed Network Rail has paid out nearly £1m in five years for slips, trips and falls at its stations across the UK.

Over half of the payouts were made following accidents at Euston, Paddington, Victoria and Liverpool Street stations.

Network Rail said a "tiny fraction" of commuters "experience a mishap".

In the five years up to the end of 2018-19 financial year a total of £951,360 was paid out in compensation.

The highest single amount was £39,631 for a passenger who "slipped on some liquid" at Charing Cross station.

Other passengers have received large payouts for slips at Paddington (£36,392) and Euston (£35,721) while another commuter received £28,000 after suffering a "possible lacerated finger" at Liverpool Street.

Settlements made by Network Rail were said to reflect the claims and would take into account not only the injury but the wider impact.

Network Rail's Philip Thrower said Network Rail was a company that took its "responsibilities seriously".

He added: "With tens of millions of people using our stations every day, only a tiny fraction of a percent experience a mishap.

"If we are at fault for causing damage or injury to anyone, we rightly compensate them for those accidents and put in place new ways of working to stop them from happening again."

Network Rail manages 20 stations across the UK including 11 in London.

Others include stations in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Reading, Guildford and Bristol Temple Meads.

Victoria was the railway station that saw the highest number of successful claims paid out by Network Rail - 44.

Waterloo (32), Leeds (32), Euston (27) and Liverpool Street (24) also feature highly.

Guildford and Glasgow Central were the only Network Rail-run stations not to have had a compensation claim paid out in the past five financial years.