A MOTHER is recovering at home after plunging six feet into the ground after a manhole collapsed beneath her.

Michelle Smith, of Rugby Road, Leigh, was trapped for 90 minutes in the terrifying fall, which happened as she was on her way to collect her seven-year-old son from school.

The 33-year-old suffered severe bruising and swelling to her legs after firefighters and paramedics freed her from the manhole in Chapel Street, Leigh.

Michelle was walking along the pavement to the school with her sister and friend when the manhole collapsed as she stepped on it.

And today, as she recalled the accident on her release from hospital, the mother-of-one confessed: "The ground just swallowed me up."

Mrs Smith said: "I was just walking along one second and down the drain the next. I couldn't believe it. My sister turned round and could just see the top of my head poking above the pavement.

"My leg had got stuck under the lid and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get it out. The pain was unbelievable.

"The ambulancemen gave me morphine but were careful with me because I had a back operation in May and they didn't know if I had damaged my back."

Tests and x-rays at the Royal Bolton Hospital revealed no broken bones in Michelle's legs and, after treatment, she was sent home with severe bruising and swelling to both legs.

The accident angered Michelle's husband, Adrian, who said the manhole had been reported to the council months ago.

He said: "The manhole has been reported a few times but nothing is ever done until it's too late."

But a probe by Wigan Council has shown they are not to blame because it was on private land. It has now been cordoned off and an investigation is under way to establish who is the owner. A council spokesman said: "Our engineers have found that the manhole is on private land. We hope the woman makes a speedy recovery."