Culross cafe owner was crushed between van and a wall

Derek Rankin, of Rankin's Cafe at the Mercat Cross, Tanhouse Brae, is aiming to start trading again next month after being left injured badly when he was crushed between his van and a wall.

The freak accident broke all the ribs on his left-hand side and fractured his pelvis in five places, and the 60-year-old was trapped for up to an hour before the fire brigade managed to free him.

Derek told the Press: "The doctor said I was extremely lucky! I didn't feel lucky.

"But he told me all the fractures were hairline fractures – it's a lot worse if they have to operate and put pins in – and there were no internal injuries.

"Maybe, from that point of view, I was lucky."

The accident happened on July 1 when Derek was unloading shopping outside the cafe he rents – their second venture with wife Sue continuing to run the popular Rankin's Cafe in North Queensferry.

He explained: "The cafe is on a little brae and I heard that little squeal, when you don't think the handbrake is on properly, I leaned in to pull the handbrake and the cable snapped.

"The van went careering down the hill, I was trying to get back in and get my foot on the brake, and I got crushed between the van and the wall.

"Luckily, one of the neighbours was out walking their dog and was on the scene in a couple of minutes and phoned the ambulance.

"I was trapped and couldn't move. The fire brigade came and had this kind of pillow-jack they inflated to lift it up enough so that two big, burly firemen could grab my feet and shoulders and drag me out.

"I was in hospital for five weeks. I'm getting better now, I'm still on crutches and morphine for the pain but the dosage is going down.

"They're happy I'm making good progress and I'm hoping to open on Wednesday, October 27. I think that's achievable."

Derek also wanted to clear up any confusion, with the council granting a change-of-use application to convert the C-listed property into a one-bedroom flat on September 1.

The matter had gone to the central and west planning committee, because of the number of objections, including one from the community council, but Derek clarified that it does NOT mean the cafe will go.

After five tenants in five years, the owner had decided to sell and applied for a change of use.

Derek said: "I managed to talk him round and get a five-year lease, as we already have an existing cafe in North Queensferry that's doing really well.

"He agreed and explained he wasn't going behind my back by going to get planning permission; he was already half-way through the process and it gives him the option of selling it with plans for a flat already there.

"I was aware of that at the beginning but he's been really good to deal with and said if it is sold, the new owner will have to honour the five-year lease."

That would take Derek up to October 2025 and he's confident, after COVID and his accident, he can make it work.

He explained: "It's reputation. It may take us six months or so to build that reputation, same as we did at North Queensferry.

"If you serve good-quality food and coffee, well-presented, with a good decor and ambience, it works and people will travel to come here.

"We have people coming from Kirkcaldy and Edinburgh to North Queensferry and have had to turn people away at the weekends.

"I'm sure we can make it work at Culross. From the big cafe window, you'd never tire of that view and we've polished up and protected the art nouveau tiles that are there.

"All the ingredients are there."