Fossil hunter badly hurt in rock fall at Seatown

Dave McGowan was collecting along the shoreline when boulders crashed on to him from cliffs above leaving him with serious leg injuries.

He believes if he hadn’t been wearing walking boots he would have lost the bottom half of his leg.

The 41-year-old Dorset taxi driver said: “I was around three or four metres from the water, but not climbing the rocks.

“There was a sudden crash of rocks coming towards me. I tried to get out of the way but they were travelling at about 40mph and I didn’t have time.

“If I hadn’t had walking boots on I would have lost the bottom half of my leg.

Paramedics and coastguards came to the rescue just before the incoming tide reached him.

The father of two children was airlifted by coastguard helicopter to Dorset County Hospital in Dorchester where he was treated for a broken leg and ankle, now held in place by pins and plates.

Mr McGowan added: “It smashed my leg in half and if it had been a kid, they would have been killed.”

He said he now may never work again and could lose his home.

Mr McGowan says his life-changing accident could have been prevented if warning signs were displayed and is now seeking compensation from whoever is responsible.

Mr McGowan said: “It has ruined the rest of my life.

“I want to try and get compensation but it doesn’t look as if anybody cares. I want to say to people ‘please don’t go down there’. Even if I don’t get compensation, the best thing I can do is to warn people.

“If there were notices to say how dangerous it is and what you can expect, people wouldn’t go there. I wouldn’t have gone there.”

Land ownership issues in the area are complex and Mr McGowan is trying to find out who should take the blame.

He sent an initial letter to West Dorset District Council.

Colin Wood, the council’s head of communications, said: “Whilst we are very sorry to hear about Mr McGowan’s accident, West Dorset District Council does not own the land concerned and will be passing the letter on to our insurers to respond to in the usual way.”

The Wraxall family has owned Seatown beach near Chideock for three generations.

Nigel Wraxall says he is certain the incident happened outside of their land but agrees visitors should be given better safety advice.

He said: “We put up four signs two months ago but they have been removed, or stolen effectively. It doesn’t take too many drunken idiots to pinch a sign.

“We are going to look at the whole issue of signage.

“Nick Browning (principal engineer) at the district council agreed with me that there were probably too many signs confusing people and it would be better to put up an information board on the approach from the beach, the cliffs, the car park and the roadway so people will always come across information warning of what to avoid.”

Mr Wraxall said Mr McGowan’s accident had ‘shocked’ him. He added: “The first thing to do is prevent that sort of thing happening.

“The issue of signage and making it safe between us, whether it is the crown, National Trust, the district council, or another private land owner, we have a duty of care. If it can be avoided, it should be.”

Mr McGowan, who lives in Bournemouth, has been unable to work since the accident earlier this month and will have to take at least another three months off.

He said: “I know it’s a bad time of year for taxi drivers anyway but I’ll lose about £5,000 in earnings.

“I will be off work for four months but it could be more depending on how my leg heals – it might never heal and I might not be able to work again “The rent needs paying and I’ve got no money to pay it.”

His accident happened while he was fossil hunting with girlfriend Carolyn Taylor, 54.