A BARROW man fell down stairs and dislocated his kneecap - after slipping on letters.

Lee Thompson injured his knees outside his flat and has now spoken out of the dangers of loose letters on stairs.

The 40-year-old had originally thought it was a postal worker who had been leaving the letters on the stairs in his building.

But it has since transpired it was actually one of his neighbour trying to do a good deed by putting their mail closer to his flat.

He fell down four steps and suffered the injuries on his way to meet a friend.

Mr Thompson has managed to see the lighter side of the situation - but has warned people to be careful about leaving trip hazards on stairs.

“If there was someone going to fall on the stairs it was going to be me,” said the Crellin Street resident.

“People should be more careful where they put things though with stairs.

“I have been taking it easy following the doctor’s advice after my CT Scan showed a slight dislocation of the kneecap.

“My neighbour had said to us that it was him leaving the post on the stairs and it was a nice thing for him to do for his upstairs neighbours. Unfortunately it turned into a trip hazard.

“The real issue is the intercom which is in the process of being fixed as delivery workers can’t get access to the flats properly.

“I think the weather damage to it over the last 30 years has now taken its toll.”

Fortunately, Mr Thompson is now on the mend from his injuries.

Describing the fall itself, he said: “It just took me by surprise.

“I was going downstairs to meet my friend and then suddenly I went over and down the steps.

“Our post worker is the best we could have so I am glad it has been shown that they did not do this.

“It would have been terrible if a worker got reprimanded without cause.

“I am glad we have got to the bottom of this mystery though.”

A Royal Mail spokesperson said: “We have been in contact with the customer and were pleased to hear that they were not seriously hurt in this incident.

“We are also pleased to hear that the customer was so complimentary about our local team.

“We have consulted our local team and confirmed that none of them left mail on the stairs.”

Speaking before it was revealed it was a neighbour who had left the letters, the spokesman added: “It is difficult to speculate what might have happened in this incident.

“It is possible that these items may have been left by another delivery company, a local business or even moved there by a member of the public.

“Royal Mail processes millions of items each day safely and without incident.”