Mother seeking payout after falling over Roman wall while looking for place to urinate

A woman who fell over a wall at a Roman site while looking for somewhere to "wee" has brought a legal action for substantial damages.

Lisa Driver, a mother of two in her 40s, suffered head injuries which left her with epilepsy after landing at the bottom of a steep bank at The Roman Painted House in Dover, Kent.

She has no memory of the accident, which took place in July 2007, and her friend Elaine Bristow, told London's High Court that they were not drunk although Mrs Driver had consumed five vodka and cokes.

Dover Roman Painted House Trust and Dover District Council deny liability for Mrs Driver's injuries, claiming she was a trespasser.

Mrs Bristow told Judge John Leighton Williams today they went into the private car park at the closed site while they waiting for their taxi as Mrs Driver wanted a "wee" and was told she could not use the taxi office's facilities.

She said: "When she went around the corner, I knew what she was going to do and I said 'you can't wee here' and we walked to the wall."

Mrs Bristow said she stopped Mrs Driver because she would get a fine if a police car came along and saw her urinating.

The Trust's counsel, Philip Williams, suggested they had been drinking that Saturday since 7pm and the taxi office did not want them in there as they had been "on the pop" for six and a half hours.

Mrs Bristow said they used those toilets on previous occasions but there was a problem that evening which prevented the public using them.

"She said the vodkas had been single measures, as doubles were too expensive and they could not afford them.