A TERRIFIED woman has criticised York council after a chunk of concrete left behind by contractors was thrown through her window.

Shirley-Ann Gibb-Kirk, of Hamilton Drive, Acomb, says she is "living in fear" and unable to sleep following the incident.

"I was absolutely terrified," said the 62-year-old. "I woke up to the sound of this almighty thud and my dog barking at 1am.

"I looked out of the window and saw someone riding away like mad on the pavement. I phoned the police straight away." Mrs Gibb-Kirk claimed City of York Council contractors left concrete, traffic cones and piles of sand outside her bungalow for three weeks while carrying out dropped kerb work.

"I'm not happy about it," she said,

"The concrete chunk should have been swept up. I've had sand thrown into my garden and cones lined up down my drive in a comedy fashion.

"It must be people on their way home from the pub. The joke is wearing thin.

"The contractors aren't even working outside my house any more, so why have they kept the materials there?"

Mrs Gibb-Kirk said she now lies awake at night wondering if anything else will be thrown.

A council spokeswoman said: "This was obviously a very distressing incident

for Mrs Gibb-Kirk and we are looking into exactly what happened, to see if the debris was left by council workers."

Updated: 09:47 Saturday, March 01, 2003