Grandmother, 77, is lucky to be alive after falling into 5ft-long pothole as she said goodnight to a friend and whacking her head on the pavement

A grandmother tripped over a giant pothole in Bournemouth and passed out after her head hit the pavement.

Ann Nightingale, 77, was saying goodnight to a friend outside the Connaught Hotel Best Western in Bournemouth, Dorset, when the heel of her shoe caught the edge of the crater in the path.

It caused her to fall backwards and whack the back of her head on the edge of the 5ft-long pothole.

Mrs Nightingale, from Exmouth in Devon, recalled the sickening thud of her head hitting the ground and thinking she was about to die before losing consciousness.