A WATCHET pensioner at the forefront of a campaign to make controversial new safety gates at the town's Goviers Lane railway crossing more accessible has been injured while trying to open them.

Retired shop worker Jim Kelly is recovering in Williton Hospital after falling from his mobility scooter near the crossing last Friday afternoon.

Mr Kelly suffered severe bruising and family and friends of the 78-year-old say he is "black and blue".

A family relative told the Free Press the accident had knocked his confidence and left him anxious.

"Jim can't walk on his own but there is nothing broken," she said.

"He will need long term physio and building up his confidence - he is extremely anxious and the nurses say he is still suffering from shock."

Mr Kelly was one of a number of vocal opponents of West Somerset Railway's decision to replace a flashing lights system with the gates in July.

Campaigners said the gates were almost impossible for people in wheelchairs or on mobility scooters or those with pushchairs to open unaided.

At the time Mr Kelly told the Free Press that trying to lean over and open them from a scooter was not easy.

He described the design of the structure as "ridiculous" and said: "They are definitely not disabled friendly."

The accident happened as Mr Kelly was trying to open the gates on his way back to his Culvercliffe Road home from the town.

Local man Brian Jones was one of the first on the scene.

He said he had just returned from a fishing trip and was standing by the marina entrance when he was asked to help by a couple who had heard Mr Kelly shout out.

Mr Jones said he found Mr Kelly in some distress, short of breath, disorientated and having to use an inhaler frequently.

"He kept on having to pause for breath and he seemed to be in shock," said Mr Jones.

"I asked him if he had any injuries and he said he had hurt his lower back and right leg and couldn't move for the pain.

"He told me he had been attempting to open the heavy gate across the railway line, had over-reached and his vehicle had rolled back.

"He had then fallen from the scooter and rolled back down the steep slope, landing in the bushes below, which are by the steps and about eight to ten feet away from where the scooter was found."

Mr Jones stayed with Mr Kelly until an ambulance crew arrived.

Nearby resident Izzy Sylvester also went to help and has since been to visit Mr Kelly in hospital.

"He is black and blue on his arms and his hips," she said.

"Jim has been against these gates from the start - he felt this was exactly the sort of thing that would happen."

Ms Sylvester and her husband Clive Gray, who live in Seaview Terrace, have also been campaigning to get the gates removed or modified.

The couple's teenaged daughter Meredith and a friend carried out a survey in the summer which charted the views of 122 local people.

An overwhelming majority - 91 per cent - said they found the gates more difficult or impossible to use than the previous lights.

Just seven people thought the gates were easy to negotiate.

More recently, local woman Cindy Griffiths handed over a petition to WSR bosses signed by 370 people who backed a call for the gates to be removed.

WSR general manager Paul Conibeare was told about the accident in an email from Ms Sylvester.

But on Wednesday he told the Free Press there was nothing to indicate that it had happened on railway property and that consequently he had no comment to make.

At the time the gates were installed, Mr Conibeare said the previous lights system had to be replaced because it had been constantly vandalised.

He said the new structure had been designed to meet National Rail's national standards with outward opening gates and that the WSR, which took safety very seriously, had been guided by Her Majesty's Inspectorate.

He said the crossing now conformed to National Network standards for foot crossings and he believed any problems with accessibility would be resolved once people got used to using the gates.