A DERBYSHIRE charity which aims to help people with eating disorders has been given a big financial boost.

First Steps Derbyshire has been awarded £187,105 from the Big Lottery Fund.

It is one of eight projects in the East Midlands to win a share of £1.6 million funding, which is part of the Reaching Communities programme.

Catherine Cleary, who set up First Steps in 2004, said she, and everyone at the charity, was thrilled they had received the grant.

She said: "Our project is a five year one and it is called Aim High.

"It aims to support more people across Derbyshire, and their parents and carers who have eating disorders.

"This will include Chesterfield, Amber Valley, and Erewash. It will enable us to expand our service over the next five years."

Ms Cleary said, in addition to supporting people with eating disorders, the money would be used to help raise awareness of them.

She said: "In these areas we will provide training sessions with professionals to help them recognise the symptoms of these disorders. This will include people who work in education, clinical staff and mental health workers."

The British Lung Foundation also secured £153,824 of funding to expand a project across the East Midlands to form Breathe Easy support groups for people living with long-term lung disease.

For people who would like to find out more about what First Steps does and their upcoming projects, the charity is holding an open day on Saturday, November 27, at 16 Agard Street, Derby, from 10.30am until 4pm.

THREE professionals are pooling their expertise to hold a networking event for business owners.

Martin Rodgers, of business support company Success Academy; Andy Hagues, a tax specialist with APC Accountants in Mansfield; and Rob Terry, from High Edge Financial Planning, in Belper, will be at the Road to Success event.

It takes place at University of Derby's Enterprise Centre, in Bridge Street, on Thursday, October 25, from 9.30am.

Tickets are £10, including refreshments, at derby-net working.eventbrite.com.

A SPURNED lover beat up his ex-girlfriend and threatened her with a knife after she broke off the relationship, a court heard.

The 26-year-old victim was having "a girly night" at her Chaddesden home when Jason Nield turned up drunk.

He punched, kicked and stood on the terrified woman – leaving her badly bruised.

Nield, 27, also pushed another woman, who tried to intervene, to the floor.

Armed police were called after Nield locked himself inside his ex-partner's house and threatened to kill anyone who entered, Derby Crown Court heard.

Jailing Nield for two years and two months, Judge John Gosling said: "Fired up with alcohol and drugs, you went round uninvited to your ex-partner's house.

"You burst in, causing complete havoc and terror."

He also imposed a restraining order on Nield, banning him from contacting his ex-girlfriend for five years.

Alex Wolfson, prosecuting, said Nield had turned up at the woman's home at about 11pm on May 12.

He said: "She knew he had been drinking and she asked him to leave her alone. She describes the defendant as shouting and screaming."

He then pushed her into a wall before she asked her friends to call the police.

Mr Wolfson said Nield then grabbed his ex-girlfriend by the hair and pulled her to the floor.

She managed to get up but he pulled her to the floor again and stood on her chest. Mr Wolfson said: "The next thing she recalls is being outside and him calling her a name and then saying he loved her."

He then punched her before picking up a kitchen knife and threatening to kill himself. She had tried to reason with him but he then walked towards her with it.

Mr Wolfson said the woman had curled up in a ball, terrified she would be stabbed, and he then kicked her repeatedly. When the police arrived, Nield ran into the house and locked himself in, saying he would "kill the next copper" who walked through the door.

Mr Wolfson said: "The police described him stabbing at the door and seeing the tip of a knife coming through the door.

"He did eventually come out and his hands and arms were covered in blood."

Nield, of Nothill Road, Hilton, admitted assault by causing actual bodily harm, common assault by beating, criminal damage, having a bladed article in a public place and affray.

The court heard Nield had a difficult background, had misused drugs and alcohol since he was 13 but was caring and a hard worker when sober.

POLICE have issued a description of a machete-wielding man they want to question in connection with an attempted robbery.

The man threatened the shopkeeper at The Corner Shop, in Balfour Street, Horninglow, at 8.50pm on October 11.

He is described as black, at least 6ft tall and muscular.

He was wearing a pale yellow hooded jumper with an orange hood and a black scarf, which covered all his mouth and part of his nose.

Anyone with information should call Detective Constable Chris Alford on 101.

INWARD investment is the lifeblood of a healthy city and Derby has just had a couple of shots in the arm.

Texan oil and gas engineering firm Cameron has selected Derby for a new centre of excellence and will be creating 40 jobs for highly skilled engineers.

Just as significantly, £40 million has been earmarked for the Global Technology Cluster, in Wilmore Road. It has the potential to provide employment space for hundreds of people. The Government is giving Derby City Council the money to realise plans for the site.

A 215-acre site is intended to provide space for small- and medium-sized companies to develop products and services to the aerospace, rail and automotive industries.

This evening, the city council's ruling cabinet will discuss the proposals so that a developer can be secured to get started on planning for the site.

It is hoped that the project will create at least 1,000 jobs within a decade.

A bird in the hand being worth two in the bush, the Cameron deal is hugely encouraging news for the city.

Though the lease has not yet been finalised for the premises, Derby has beaten competition from other cities such as Birmingham, Nottingham and Coventry. This has become a trend in recent years as the city's gravitational pull has increased.

A real coup for the city was attracting aerospace firm Gardner, an enterprise that brought with it more than 300 jobs.

Victory Park, in Sinfin, opposite Rolls-Royce, was eventually chosen over the North West for the firm's headquarters, which will spearhead development.

Gardner also has aspirations to become a major global player in the aerospace industry and has funding in place to acquire more businesses to achieve its aim.

The business park where Gardner has made its home was developed by national firm Revelan and has been a real success story during the dark days of the recession.

It has also attracted NDT Services, which relocated from Kegworth and brought some 140 jobs as well as a number of expanding local businesses.

For both Gardner and NDT Services, the gravitational pull of Rolls-Royce proved hugely important to their relocation to Derby.

The fact is that, while Rolls-Royce is a global company that sources parts and services from across the world, there remains a commercial advantage to being within walking distance of its aerospace base in Sinfin and its marine division at Raynesway.

And the more hi-tech businesses that set up, the more entrepreneurial gravity draws further investment into the city.

The second phase of Victory Park has the potential to attract firms that will create hundreds of further jobs on a site that is ready to develop.

In an ideal world, these units – ranging in size from 10,000sq ft to 110,000sq ft – would be occupied by the time plans for the Global Technology Cluster come to fruition.

While Derby is enhancing its status as one of the world's leading city's for aerospace firms, it continues to build on its standing as a centre for rail engineering.

During the recession, the rail industry, fuelled largely by public spending decisions, has expanded in Derby.

Australian firm MRX Technologies, specialising in monitoring equipment, brought in more than a dozen jobs when it established a base on Pride Park in 2009.

Rail software and consultancy firm Tracsis established a base in Derby in 2011, bringing with it 20 employees and ambitions for further expansion.

Key to the move was the desire to be close to the heart of the UK rail industry.

French flavourings firm Mane also chose Pride Park for its laboratory in 2010, investing £250,000 and creating a dozen jobs.

Proximity to major customers and the central location was key to its decision to make Derby its home.

Software business Games Warehouse brought 40 jobs to Pride Park from Nottingham to make life easier for its employees spread across the Midlands.

And escaping the parking levy in place at the other end of Brian Clough Way was what helped prompt social housing firm Friendship Care and Housing to bring 20 jobs to offices at the Wyvern Business Park.

Of course, HeroTSC has created more than 700 jobs at the former Egg premises and promises further recruitment, while Carrington Carr is setting up a call centre on Pride Park that will employ around 100 people.

Though industrial and office developments on the edge of the city have attracted investment and hundreds of jobs since the recession started to bite, it is in the city centre where the positive impact of inward investment is most keenly felt.

Restaurants and retailers are the public face of the city and though women's high-end fashion store Young Ideas may only employ five people, it has a significant psychological impact.

It took space within department store Bennetts in March last year.

Top designer fashion for women had been absent from the city since August 2009 when the womenswear branch of Cruise, in Sadler Gate, closed its doors.

It creates the right impression and reflects the Cathedral Quarter's aspirations.

Although this kind of inward investment creates relatively few employment opportunities, what it does for the city centre is vital.

Similarly, quality national brands also bring kudos to an area.

Gondola Group, responsible for Pizza Express and Zizzi, had been looking for premises for another Italian eatery.

Having achieved success with two Pizza Express outlets and Zizzi, Derby was a target for Ask, another Gondola Group brand.

The contest for its new restaurant was between the Riverlights development and the Cathedral Quarter.

Just a couple of weeks after the Santanda bar premises became available in the Market Place, Marc Ward, head of acquisitions for the Gondola Group, visited the city.

He gave a talk at the Derby Property Show, met with agents and within a few months, a planning application was submitted to erect signage for Ask.

The restaurant opened in March this year, creating 20 jobs and having an immediate positive visual impact on the city centre.

Now that the city has built up a head of steam, the work being carried out by landlords, property agents, Marketing Derby and the city council is coming into its own.

Success breeds more success, so Derby must not rest on its laurels but keep the momentum up and redouble its efforts to attract good-quality businesses to the city.

TWO Derbyshire firms that earlier this year saw their exporting achievements given the royal seal of approval will be presented with their awards tomorrow.

In April, it was announced that IT firm PXTech, of Derby and specialist clothing manufacturer Gill, of Long Eaton, would receive a Queen's Award for Enterprise for boosting foreign trade and developing new products.

The awards are regarded as the UK's most prestigious accolades for business- related achievements.

Douglas Gill International will be presented with its award at a special ceremony at its premises in Manor House Road, Long Eaton.

The firm, which makes Gill specialist marine clothing, has increased export sales, which now make up 75% of its total revenue.

Its products are regularly worn by world champions, Olympic teams and round-the-world sailors.

PXTech employs 22 people at its Pride Park headquarters, where it develops software that allows businesses to keep a constant eye on their performance.

Meanwhile, two city firms have made it through the regional heats of a competition to find the most successful businesses in the country.

Venue finding and events company Zibrant, on Pride Park, and Birchover Hotel Apartments, which has accommodation in Allestree and Darley Abbey, were successful in the regional heats of the British Chambers of Commerce Awards 2012.

Zibrant won the marketing campaign of the year title and Birchover landed the commitment to people development award.

Both will compete in the awards grand final, which will take place in London on November 29, with the chance to win £25,000.

A TEENAGER has stunned medics by fighting back from the brink of death twice in the space of just over a year.

Kyle Reeve fractured his skull in a bike accident and was in a coma and on life support for three days. Medics told his family he may not pull through but, amazingly, he recovered consciousness and was sent home after five days.

However, five weeks ago he fell victim to a potentially deadly form of meningitis, was unconscious and having seizures, and again doctors feared for Kyle's life. Mum Nicky said they told her he may have contracted the condition due to his earlier skull fracture, in June 2011.

Nicky, of Harvey Road, Alvaston said nurses who helped save Kyle's life before could not believe he was back in hospital. She said: "They didn't think he'd make it. It was like history repeating itself."

But battling Kyle pulled through and has now gone back to school.

Nicky kept a vigil at her son's hospital bedside after he was badly injured in a cycling accident last year. He was on a life support machine after a fracturing his skull in a BMX accident.

He recovered but this year she was forced to go through the ordeal all over again when the 14-year-old was struck down with a potentially deadly disease.

She can recall Kyle's BMX accident as if it was yesterday. It was the same day as her uncle's funeral – June 27 last year. She says: "I remember seeing Kyle playing on a climbing frame and I told him to get down as I didn't want him to get hurt.

"Then later he went out with his friends on his bike and I got a call asking me to pick him up because he'd come off the bike.

"I was scared he'd died and went straight down there. When we got to Alvaston Park he was lying on the floor and looked quite a mess.

"In the ambulance, his eyes started rolling back in his head. He was fighting and kicking. It was horrible. He kept trying to get up and get the collar off his neck."

Kyle was taken straight to the accident and emergency department at the Royal Derby Hospital and had tests and X-rays.

He had suffered a fractured skull and was taken to the Queen's Medical Centre intensive care unit. He stayed in a coma and was on life support for three days.

Nicky says: "I waited there and spoke to him. I was there every day and I only came home to get changed. They tried to wake him up from the coma but his body wasn't ready for it so they put him back to sleep."

Kyle stayed on the ward for five days before being discharged. Nicky says: "He's unbelievable. We expected to be in the hospital for more than a month. He was there just over a week. They called him a miracle boy."

Kyle eventually returned to his life as a student at Noel-Baker School, where teachers gradually introduced him back into lessons.

Nicky, of Harvey Road, said: "Noel-Baker were really good. They kept in contact with me on the phone to let me know how he was getting on. I was really nervous when he went back to school but Kyle just wanted to do what he always did and carry on as normal. He wouldn't let anything stop him.

"We noticed after the accident that there was a heart-shaped bloodstain on the T-shirt he was wearing during the accident, just above where his heart is. We were so glad he was back at home and well again."

But on August 7 this year Kyle had been staying at his sister's house for a few days and became unwell.

Nicky says: "I went round to check on him and he was struggling to walk and started feeling weaker. His eye, near to where he had fractured his skull the year before, started to get bigger and bigger. He started having seizures. We moved him but it was like lifting a dead weight. There was no movement in him whatever."

The ambulance arrived and took Kyle to the Royal Derby Hospital again.

Nicky says: "In the ambulance they said 'you have a very poorly boy here'."

"And the same thing happened again. We went to the emergency room. They told me they thought it was meningitis.

"I asked them if I would lose him. They didn't think he'd make it. It was like history repeating itself.

"A team from the Queen's Medical Centre came to the Derby Royal to examine Kyle. They said he was really poorly and had to take him to the intensive care unit at the Queen's Medical Centre. The staff there couldn't believe he was back again."

Kyle was diagnosed with pneumococcal meningitis, which is rare in children of his age. It causes the membranes around the brain and spine to swell.

Despite the severity of his condition, Kyle again amazed medics by being discharged from hospital just over a week later.

"The infection might have been caused by a hairline fracture still left in his skull from the BMX accident." said Nicky.

Kyle is now back at school and leading as normal a life as possible.

He said: "When I first fell off my BMX my life flashed before my eyes. It went pitch black. I can't remember anything. It was all black to me.

"I've promised my family I will stay out of trouble from now on."

His mum has seen a positive change in Kyle. She says: "The accident left him quite angry but since the meningitis he's been a bit like a little boy. It used to be a battle to get him to school but not any more. He's a little bit more giggly and friendly."

In his first week back at Noel-Baker School, someone hit him round the head with their bag on the same side as his fracture.

Ms Reeve says: "It was really scary but luckily he seems OK and has just got a grazed eye."

A RESEARCH centre and conference venue has been officially opened by a pair of mayors following a seven- figure investment from a Derby forensic science firm.

SureScreen Diagnostics, on Prime Enterprise Park, has expanded its operation to include Morley Retreat, in Morley, and is preparing a number of innovative new healthcare products.

The former religious retreat has undergone an extensive refurbishment and now boasts laboratories, tea rooms and has already played host to meetings of medical professionals.

Declared open by both the Mayor of Derby, Lisa Higginbottom, and Amber Valley Mayor John Nelson, the building has allowed the company to expand the forensics side of the business.

The firm is reporting an increase in this area, with more demand for investigation of mechanical failures, asbestos analysis, crime-scene work and examination of personal injury claims.

The company's managing director, Jim Campbell, said: "Our skills are unique and our staff have such experience that we are getting more and more people coming to us in a greater variety of industries.

"Our work in the healthcare sector is expanding because there are new technologies coming along that have to be tested and approved.

"Materials that are used have to be better than ever before and approved to a higher grade and it is this kind of work that has now started at Morley."

The company's forensic laboratories will eventually all be moved to Morley Retreat, with healthcare screening work remaining at its Prime Parkway site.

The building's laboratories will also be used to study life-limiting illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, allergies, asthma and dementia.

Growth of the business is expected to result in between 20 and 30 additional jobs by the end of 2013, taking headcount at the business up to the 50 mark.

A biochemist has been taken on and recruitment is under way for scientific and cleaning staff.

The business is working on bringing a number of new products to market, including an innovative speculum.

It is made from a shatterproof polycarbonate material through which light can be diffused, making life easier for gynaecologists, and an angled handle that makes examinations less uncomfortable for patients.

Mr Campbell said: "Work is progressing very well and we expect to take it to a big medical exhibition in Dusseldorf early next year to present it to our distributors.

"Women tell us that they would like it to be made in pink."

The company is also developing hypodermic syringes used to administer drugs where the drug itself is pre-filled into the syringe and only a certain type of needle can be fixed on to the end. This is to ensure there is no mix-up when it comes to using them.

Mr Campbell said: "There have been some nasty accidents where the wrong drugs have been given to patients because the wrong pre-filled syringe has been put on the needle.

"Our product ensures that the needles and syringes are no longer interchangeable and will hopefully reduce this type of accident."

The innovative approach has also extended to the heating system at Morley Retreat.

A mile of pipes has been installed between one and two metres beneath the walled garden.

The pipes circulate brine from which a compressor extracts heat for the building.

Mr Campbell said: "Even just a couple of metres underground, temperatures are around 12 degrees even in winter – that's why rabbits are so cosy.

"Once the compressor has squeezed the heat from the brine, it is then used as a coolant that is pumped around the tea room's pantry area.

"Moving heat around in this way is very cheap."

THE setting sun blinding drivers was blamed for accidents during the rush hour yesterday, which led to traffic problems across the city.

In one incident at about 5pm, a driver ran into a concrete barrier in Derwent Street after being distracted by the sun on the bend just after crossing Exeter Bridge.

The car was left straddling the obstacle. No one in the car was hurt.

In another incident, a car ran into a single-decker bus in Nottingham Road, near to the Pentagon Island, at about 5.15pm and the sun could have been to blame in this accident too.

A police spokesman said: "We are aware that at this time of the year the angle of the sun in the late afternoon can be hazardous to motorists and it is worth people being extra cautious."

Further afield, traffic built up on the A52 towards Nottingham after one car ran into the back of another in the outside lane eastbound at about 5pm.

Last night's shunts came 24 hours after another spectacular incident which saw a car land on parked vehicles in the Toys R Us car park near the A52.

The female driver did not quite make the corner on a slip road off the A52 towards the Wyvern Retail Park and skidded across a grass verge into the car park.

She was taken to hospital and a small dog also involved suffered a cut on his paw.

A spokesperson for the fire service said the driver had been lucky the parked cars had been there to cushion her fall.

A STUDENT was stunned when he was arrested and charged with fraud after headphones he sold on eBay were never delivered.

Faris Quayum's case, which he said saw him questioned for eight hours in custody, was withdrawn in court because of lack of evidence.

During the investigation, his mobile phone, bank statements and laptop were seized by Derbyshire police as they gathered evidence.

Mr Quayum, of Littleover, said it took until three months after his arrest, and five weeks after his case was thrown out, for the items to be returned.

Mr Quayum, of Havenbaulk Avenue, said he sold the headphones for £140 to a buyer in Lancashire, in May.

The buyer contacted him to say the item had not arrived and Mr Quayum said he offered a refund "three or four times" to the person.

Then, in July, the police came to his home, arrested him for fraud and took him to St Mary's Wharf police station to be questioned.

The former Littleover School pupil said: "It was humiliating. I've never ripped anyone off in my life.

He says he now feels "like a victim" and intends to sue the police.

He said: "I am studying on a five-year course in London paying something in the region of £8,000 a year just on accommodation.

"Why would I risk all the education I am having to make just £140? Why would I try to con someone? The whole affair is ridiculous.

"I just feel like the victim here and now I plan to sue the police for what they did. I am writing to my MP as well. I am taking this all the way.

"The person who bought the headphones wanted them sending the cheapest way so we agreed to send them by normal post, rather than registered delivery or courier.

"He contacted me a few times over the next couple of weeks telling me they had not been delivered.

"I offered him a refund three or four times but he wasn't interested.

"Then there was a knock at the door and the police arrested me.

"I have no criminal record or any problems with that eBay account, so I don't see why they have done this."

Mr Quayum, who is studying medicine at St George's University, in London, said he had sold thousands of items on eBay without problems.

Among feedback he said he received from buyers included: "Very pleased, excellent product and great communication" and "Spot on, fast delivery, as described, thanks".

He said one of his accounts had been suspended after he made mistakes in the listing of some items but he said he intended to appeal against this.

A police spokesman said officers investigated the buyer's complaints thoroughly and presented the evidence to the Crown Prosecution Service.

He said: "They decided there was enough to bring about a prosecution."

A spokesman for the CPS said: "The CPS keeps cases under continual review.

"When this case was charged, it was considered that there was a realistic prospect of a conviction, based on the evidence available at the time.

"However, following a review of the case in September, when witnesses critical to the prosecution's case declined to make a statement, it was decided that there was no longer a realistic prospect of a conviction, so the case was withdrawn at the first hearing."

A spokesman for eBay said: "We work closely with the law enforcement authorities to pass on information.

"eBay has around 60 million listings on the UK site at any one time and thousands of successful sales each day.

"On the rare occasion a problem does occur, eBay has established channels in place to help, including a dedicated customer service team and eBay Buyer Protection programme."

THE number of people looking for work in Derby and Derbyshire has fallen, according to figures released this morning.

The latest monthly claimant count figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the number of Derby people on work-related benefit in September was 8,386, compared to 8,507 in August, representing a fall of 121 or 2.2%.

In the rest of the county there were 15,328 people looking for work - 346 less than in August, which is a drop of 1.4%.

It means that since the start of the year, the number of jobseekers in Derbyshire has fallen by 2,000.

And over the past six months, there are around 500 less people looking for work in Derby.

A HUSBAND who scooped £3.8 million on the lottery says it is the second time he has celebrated a jackpot win – but this time it is not a dream.

David Allsobrook, 48, and 46-year-old wife Debra matched all six numbers.

Mr Allsobrook said he once had a vivid dream that he had won the lottery and woke up feeling disappointed.

The sales engineer at Burton-based insulation firm Hodgson and Hodgson said: "I literally woke up and thought I'd won the lottery and I was so disappointed that day when I found out I'd not won. I'm still waiting to think this is that same dream."

Describing how he felt after being told he had won, Mr Allsobrook said: "You just don't believe it. You think people are going to be shouting and screaming at you down the street. You just feel numb."

The couple, of Stretton, scooped the jackpot prize on October 6 and their identities were revealed at a press conference at Branston Golf and Country Club yesterday.

Mr Allsobrook bought the winning ticket from his local Co-op in Stretton.

He said: "I sometimes don't get to watch the National Lottery show so I always ask the assistant to check the tickets from the previous week.

"We have the usual banter, I ask if I have to go to work on the Monday but this week I was told to phone the number on the back of the ticket because I'd won some cash. I called the National Lottery hotline and was chatting away, expecting around £100 or so, when the lady on the phone said with those numbers I'd won the jackpot."

Mrs Allsobrook, a stylist at a salon in Burton, did not believe her husband when he told her they had won the lottery, while she was colouring her cousin's hair.

Mr Allsobrook said: "She came outside and I said 'we're millionaires'. She said 'No, no we're not' and I said 'Yes we are'. We had a hug and then she went back to work."

Mrs Allsobrook said: "It felt like it was a dream."

Mr Allsobrook, whose biggest previous win had been £40, went off to watch Burton Albion play Bristol Rovers – but not before finding a safe place to put the ticket, a metal sewing tin.

"If the house burnt down, the ticket would hopefully have been safe," Mrs Allsobrook joked.

The couple, who have no children, have already bought their parents new cars – a Toyota Yaris and a Vauxhall Astra – and plan to take their families on holiday, with the first trip planned for Las Vegas next year.

Mr Allsobrook said they had been back at work since the win.

He said: "We're just an ordinary couple and we still can't take it in.

"In the short term we're still both going to be working.

"In the long term, we want to do something with it and help out our families as best we can."

The winning numbers were 1, 11, 16, 18, 27 and 42.

A MOTHER has launched a petition calling for tighter regulations on mobility scooters after her nine-year-old son was injured in the city centre.

Caren Jephson said a scooter driven by an elderly man hit her son, Isaac, with such force it sent him flying into a shop window.

Shoppers rushed to the boy's aid as he was left crying with pain.

The legal speed limit for travel on a pavement is 4mph but Mrs Jephson estimated the scooter was travelling much faster.

The 45-year-old said she knew of others who had been hit by scooters and called for a change in the law.

She said: "Isaac was left with big bruises on his legs.

"He hit the window with such a thud I thought there'd been a car crash. I was shocked to turn round and see my son lying on the ground.

"I thought he'd been hit by a car but it was in fact a mobility scooter. The man riding it didn't even realise he had hit my son.

"He carried on sailing up the street. When people shouted to him that he had hit my boy he stopped, said sorry and drove off again.

"He was so far up the street within seconds of hitting Isaac, he must have been doing about 20mph."

Mrs Jephson said it was lucky her son was not more seriously hurt.

She has since launched a petition calling for tighter regulations to be introduced and has gathered more than 200 signatures.

She said: "People who use mobility scooters should have to go on a course like drivers do as they're going that fast.

"Many think it's their right of way and that it's okay for them to bomb around. They need to think of others.

"If a car hits you at 20mph or even 10mph, if it's careless driving the driver will get arrested and charged. Why should this be any different?"

It is an issue that has been looked into by the Government for several years – with a consultation in 2010 asking people if they would support measures such as mandatory training and eye tests for mobility scooter users.

However, no changes to the law have been introduced.

Ann Crosby, of the Southern Derbyshire Pensioners' Association, said she agreed "entirely" with Ms Jephson.

She said: "Users shouldn't go any quicker than fast walking pace and they should be made to take out insurance in case they injure somebody.

"I do know people who are amazed at the speed these mobility scooters go and you do get the odd one dashing around on the pavement."

Mrs Jephson said she planned to discuss her campaign with Mid Derbyshire MP Pauline Latham.

A Derbyshire police spokeswoman confirmed Mrs Jephson had reported the incident and that officers were investigating.

Anyone wishing to sign the petition should email Mrs Jephson at carenjep45@ gmail.com.