A BLIND woman is urging residents to be mindful of shrubbery overhanging public footpaths.

Carly Watson, 33, from Malvern, who is “totally blind”, was out with her guide dog, Jasper, walking along Queen’s Road in the town when she walked into a thorny bush overhanging a garden boundary.

Her confidence also took a knock and she was left badly shaken, as well as cuts to her face.

Carly Watson said: "The first thing I knew about it was when I felt a searing pain across my cheek.

“Then I felt as though someone had literally grabbed hold of my face and pulled it back towards my ear.

“Thank goodness I managed to stop immediately, and thank goodness I also had the sense not to touch my face.

“I felt the prickle of lots of thorns, and then, as the wind gusted, the increased pull in my cheek.

“I felt physically sick to my stomach - I was shaking and disoriented, and really afraid that if I stepped forward again, I didn’t know how to pass the bramble without being caught for a second time.

“Jasper cannot navigate soft obstacles so he has no way of indicating bushes or trees are in the way.

“Damaging my face is one thing - I can recover - but if Jasper damaged his eyes, he would not be able to guide me again.

"Luckily, I was walking to meet my assistant, so could ask for him to collect me a little closer to home.

"I was so disoriented by the encounter that I lost my way, and he had to come and find me.

"If I hadn't had that back up, it would have been much harder to find my way to where I needed to be.

“I now absolutely know what a fish feels like when he is hooked."

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Cllr Neil Morton, mayor of Malvern, said: “I’m asking all residents to take note of the overhang onto public footpaths and be mindful of the needs of disabled members of our community.”

A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council said: “We ask residents to be mindful of they have hedges or trees that are close to pavements, and to keep these maintained especially in the summer.

“If an issue is reported to us we will go out and inspect the issue and contact the landowner to request the area is cut back."

Report concerns to: worcestershire.gov.uk/reportit.