A PENSIONER has told of his terror after his mobility scooter suddenly accelerated towards traffic.

David Hall, from Oak Street, Great Harwood, suffers from Parkinson’s Disease and a neurological disorder.

To aid his mobility he uses a scooter, which automatically brakes when the accelerator is not used.

Now manufactuers are to be asked to inspect the machine which the 67-year-old said suddenly shot up to almost four times its normal maximum speed.

He said: “I was about half way down Golden Acre Lane, and the scooter just took off. It was doing about 20mph and there were no brakes whatsoever.

“I managed to get it to turn into the bridle path and the wheel came off. The axle dug into the ground and the scooter still went about 30 feet, so that shows how fast it was going.

“If I had not got that scooter to turn, a car could have hit me. I would have been injured, if not killed.”

The scooter, which usually has a top speed of 8mph, was recovered and taken to Mr Hall’s home following the incident.

Mr Hall contacted the company who supplied his scooter, Mobility Partnership in Hull, which took it away for repair, but contacted the Lancashire Telegraph after struggling to contact the company’s service department. He said: “I called them last Monday to find out what the problem had been because they didn’t know. I called several times but they did not call me back.”

Co-director at Mobility Partnership, Roy Harteveld, said: “Mr Hall has had some problems without a doubt but we are endeavouring to put it right.

“We are in touch with Mr Hall every day. We have apologised on the basis we have not returned his calls.”

Mr Hartveld added he had never seen a scooter malfunction in such a way before. He said: “I’m going to invite the manufacturer to inspect the machine. It could even been tampered with, which is a possibility.”

Mobility Partnership has sent Mr Hall a courtesy scooter while his is repaired but would not comment further.