A coroner has issued a warning after a British woman slipped through a gap in a stone wall and fell nearly 10 metres to her death near Barnard Castle in County Durham.
Kay Wilson, 78, was on County Bridge in Barnard Castle late one evening in December last year when she passed through a gap in the stone wall and fell more than 9m onto rocks below before entering the River Tees.
The river, which had risen following recent rainfall, swept Ms Wilson away in what has now been ruled an accidental death by drowning.
A two-month investigation into the incident has since concluded, with senior coroner Jeremy Chipperfield finding that the tragedy could have been prevented if the protective stone wall had not been breached.
In his report, he said: “The deceased drowned shortly after 23:30 hrs on 6 December 2025 when, having been in a public area above the east bank of the River Tees near ‘County Bridge’ in Barnard Castle, she accidentally passed through a gap in a protective stone wall and fell about 9 metres onto rocks and then passed into the river.”
Addressing Durham County Council, Mr Chipperfield warned that “there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken” and urged the authority to address the safety concerns.
“A breach in the stone wall running north above the riverside from the east side of 'County Bridge', Barnard Castle, provides unrestricted and unguarded access from a public area to a vertical drop of approximately 9 metres onto rocks and the River Tees below,” he wrote in his report.
He concluded: “In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe your organisation has the power to take such action.”
Mark Readman, Durham County Council's head of highways, has responded to the coroner’s report, saying the council will respond to the concerns.
"Our thoughts and condolences are with Ms Wilson's family,” he said.
"We have received the coroner's report and will respond following careful consideration of the concerns raised."
Located on the banks of the River Tees in County Durham, Barnard Castle welcomes around 30,000 visitors each year and is considered a key historical landmark in the area.
County Bridge, which connects the small town on either side of the river, is thought to have been built at some time around 1596.
Barnard Castle also became a popular talking point during the Covid-19 pandemic after it emerged that Dominic Cummings visited the attraction to allegedly test his eyesight after experiencing vision loss due to coronavirus, before making the journey to London to return to work.
In the bizarre and flagrant breach of stay-at-home orders at the time, Cummings claimed that he had acted “reasonably” and within the law after making the 260-mile journey.
