A pensioner says she suffered life-changing injuries when she fell over a plastic fin in a cycle lane.

Lorna Fyffe, who lives in Cromarty Road, Edgware, says she struggles to get around and has to walk using a stick after tripping over the plastic ‘orca’ – designed to separate cycle lanes from the main carriageway – in September last year.

The 67-year-old said Enfield Council should put up signs to warn pedestrians that the “dangerous” fins – installed as part of the £30 million Cycle Enfield scheme – are there.

Mrs Fyffe said: “I can’t walk properly. It has utterly destroyed me. It’s hard – it makes me cry. In my head, I’m 27, not 67.”

Mrs Fyffe said she had been visiting her husband, who is staying at a care home in Enfield, when she fell after coming out of Sainsbury’s supermarket in London Road.

She said: “I did not have any idea the orca was there. In the traffic, I couldn’t see it – I went through the gap between two parked cars.

“It threw me over the white line, and the cars had to scream to a halt.

“Two guys came out of their van and took me to the care home. I was so shocked. I was an absolute mess – I couldn’t move.”

Times Series:

Mrs Fyffe explained she had previously suffered from back problems – but she says she developed more problems after the fall.

An MRI scan showed she had lymphedema, which causes her legs to swell.

It also revealed she had anterolisthesis, meaning some of the bones in her spine have slipped over each other.

Mrs Fyffe said she used to visit her husband six days a week but can now only manage to make the journey from Edgware to Enfield three days a week.

She added that she wanted to raise awareness of the dangers posed by the orcas.

Mrs Fyffe said: “There were no warning signs saying, ‘shoppers beware’. These things are set in such a dangerous way.

“If I got them to put warning signs up, I would be happy. They are not going to take the orcas out.

“It’s not good enough to say, ‘you should have used the crossing’. People take risks. We run for buses when we shouldn’t.”

Since the cycle lanes were installed along the A105, there have been several reports of accidents involving the orcas.

Last year, a Southgate woman said she had spent Christmas on crutches after tripping over one of the lane dividers and fracturing her kneecap.

An Enfield Council spokesperson said: “We are sorry to hear Mrs Fyffe hurt herself while crossing the road and we hope she makes a speedy and full recovery.

“We cannot comment on specific cases but can confirm that our Cycle Enfield project, including the orcas, has been delivered in accordance with the approved design.

“We continue to review and monitor all of these schemes, which is standard practice for these types of highway improvement projects.”