A NEWPORT grandmother who suffers from arthritis had to walk for two hours last week after her taxi stopped short due to the sink hole in Langstone.

Christine Holmes, 70, spent Thursday, September 7, shopping and visiting her daughter in Newport.

Melissa, 47, booked her mother a Capitol taxi from Cromwell Road at around 7:30pm, neither of them aware of the sink hole that had emerged earlier in the day, causing flooding and closures on Chepstow Road.

The taxi driver dropped Ms Holmes off at Coldra roundabout, just over a mile from her flat on Park End Court.

With no mobile phone or means of navigation, the grandmother of four, who suffers from arthritis, endured a walk home through Cat’s Ash lanes.

Melissa says it was “pitch black” outside by the time her mother reached her Langstone flat and someone from the repair crew on Chepstow Road had to tell her which way to go.

Capitol deny the family's version of events.

“My mum’s not afraid of many things on her own, but she was absolutely petrified,” she said.

“She is full of arthritis from her head to her feet, but her legs and knees are the worst.

“She is still in pain with her knees now.”

Capitol Taxis charged the full journey price despite never getting Ms Holmes to her destination, Melissa claims.

Capitol Taxis owner Mohammed Javed denies the family’s version of events.

“I don’t know if you know about what happened in Langstone but it was horrendous, it was a nightmare,” said Mr Javed.

“The driver has been with me for two years and not received any complaints. I spoke to him this morning. He insisted he would take an alternative route.”

Melissa did not get hold of her mum until the following day and complained to Capitol Taxis when she learned about the ordeal.

“The apology should have been to my mum, if anything,” said Melissa. “They dropped her off on her own and it took two and a half hours to get back.”