PINT-SIZED pensioner Nora Milbourne has won £8,000 in damages from her council after she broke her leg trying to move her wheelie bin.

The 87-year-old, who is just 4ft 11in, and weighs less than seven stone, fell when she tried to drag the bin along her garden path.

She had previously complained to council officers, but was told to "try her best" until a smaller bin could be delivered.

But Mrs Milbourne fell and broke her leg when the bin careered out of control as she tried to drag it down her steep driveway.

Newcastle City Council denied responsibility, and a two-year legal battle ended on Wednesday, when she won her case at Newcastle's County Court.

Mrs Milbourne, of The Great North Road, Gosforth, told the court: "I said the bin they were going to give me was far too big, and as my drive is quite steep I didn't think I could manage it."

After her fall, Mrs Milbourne had to endure weeks in plaster in a hospital bed.

Ordering the council to pay £8,000 damages and £6,262 costs, Judge Ian Atherton said: "Mrs Milbourne was a fit and sprightly woman before her accident, and still is to a large degree.

"But she says, and I believe her, that she has lost some of her confidence since the accident."