An estate agent has criticised "stupid" bollards on Deansgate which he claims left him injured.
Scott Birkinshaw, 29, was running along Deansgate on his way to work on Wednesday afternoon (December 15), when he tripped.
Along Deansgate, on either side, are temporary orange and white poles which push into black suction cups screwed on the road.
These temporary bollards were installed to replace large, orange barriers, which had triggered complaints from people who were unable to cross the road at certain points because of them.
When Scott was running on the road, one of the poles was detached from its suction cup, which was not visible to him, in the dark.
It caused him to trip and fall.
He ended up scraping his knee along the suction cup.
He now has a wound on his knee, as well as aches and pains in his body, which is causing him great discomfort.
Scott, from Manchester, said: " I was running along and I completely tripped over the black suction c up and I (went) flying like Superman.
"I couldn't see the black suction cup on the floor at all.
"I tumbled forward, hands down, trying to save myself, that was the motion.
"And I landed on my knee, my hip, my hands and my wrists.
"It was the most uncomfortable thing, to trip over this black cup on the floor and fall in front of everybody.
"There were cars and people around.
"And then I had to pull myself together to go to work and do a viewing with a tenant, bleeding, with ripped trousers.
"It was aggravating.
"I just wanted to disappear and for the ground to swallow me up.
"It was awful."
Scott shared how distressing the injury is, adding: "I can't go to work.
"I’m having to take a few days off the gym and I can't lift weights.
"I usually go to the gym every day.
"It’s really caused discomfort to my work and my daily routine.
"I am in pain and I am having to take co-codamol.
"There is discomfort when sleeping and when walking each day."
After Scott finished work and arrived home, he had to treat his knee wound with Savlon and put ice packs on his wrists and hip.
The injury could have been far worse, he claims.
" Luckily, I fell on four places: my knee, my hip and my two wrists," he continued.
"If I’d fallen on one place- like just a wrist- I would have broken it."
Additionally, Scott believes that the bollards could cause injury to pedestrians who might not spot loose poles or black suction cups on the road, particularly at night time.
He continued: "T hese bollards are a trip hazard- the poles are popping in and out of the suction cups.
"There is no safety system on the suction cups.
"Injuries will absolutely happen to other people.
"I said to the Council, look, this is the situation, you have put a temporary road measure in, but it's a temporary measure that doesn’t work.
"You want to make Deansgate a more pedestrianised area, but by doing it, you have caused hazards, which I think, by risk assessment and due diligence, isn’t what it should be."
Scott is calling for the bollards to be removed altogether, or made more visible, so that people can see them during darker hours.
“The black cups that are screwed to the floor should be reflective, like cat’s eyes on motorway.
"They should have those reflective studs on them, so that light reflects off them, because at night time, you can’t see them."
He added: "If the most visible part, which is the pole, comes detached and goes away, what is left that is visible, apart from black?
"Nothing. There is nothing that is visible.
" The council needs to either remove these temporary bollards, o r they need to put proper permanent bollards in that aren’t going to temporarily move out of place.
"It’s disappointing that it's caused me this injury, especially so close to Christmas.
"It’s an inconvenience. I'm self-employed, so it has impacted how I work."
A spokesperson for Manchester City Council said: "Members of the public are able to lodge a complaint with Manchester City Council by emailing contact@manchester.gov.uk."
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