Fan escapes falling glass

The Stadium of Light was opened six years ago

Safety experts have begun an investigation after a football fan escaped serious injury from a shower of broken glass at Sunderland's Stadium of Light.

John Ellison, 30, arrived 10 minutes late to take up his usual seat at the stadium only to discover it had been damaged by the falling shards.

A pane of reinforced glass shattered in the upper tier of the stadium's main stand and parts of it cascaded on to spectators below.

Mr Ellison, of Jarrow, South Tyneside, said that after he arrived he found his chair had been split in two by the glass.

He said: "I feel very lucky indeed to have arrived late."

The school teacher has been watching Sunderland from Row 32, Seat 111 in the North Stand since the stadium was built six years ago.

He was held up in traffic on his way to the game against Walsall on Saturday and when he arrived found that the area he normally occupied had been cleared of supporters.

Safety barriers

Fans had been moved from the area while the remainder of the pane in the upper tier was taken away to prevent any more of it falling on to the seating below.

Sunderland City Council issued a safety certificate for the stadium in August.

A council spokesman said it had written to the club and was satisfied any necessary work would be completed by Tuesday, when Sunderland are due to play Rotherham at the stadium.

In a statement Sunderland Football Club said the incident resulted from damage to toughened glass safety barriers, which met required safety standards and were approved by the local authority.

The statement added: "There was an incident at the match on Saturday, where a safety barrier fractured for no apparent reason.

'Structural engineers'

"Whilst the vast majority of the barrier, although cracked, remained in place, some small particles did fall on to the lower deck.

"This resulted in two people receiving slight injuries. Both were seen by first-abiders in the stadium before returning to the seating deck to watch the remainder of the game.

"Supporters in the affected area were immediately relocated by stewards while the incident was dealt with, the barrier removed and the small particles cleared from the seating deck.

"The club is now fully investigating the incident with the help of structural engineers and the local authority in the hope of ascertaining why this occurred.

"Following this the Club will, of course, do everything possible to prevent any recurrence."