AN ANDOVER mother has demanded that action be taken on the uneven paving outside her home after her young daughter tripped over a raised slab and suffered a deep gash across her knee.

Nine-year-old Rayne Mitchener was taken to hospital last Wednesday to receive stitches to her right leg after tripping over an uneven paving slab near her home in Venice Court.

The Balksbury Infant school student was rushing back to her home to collect money for an ice cream, when she took the tumble, resulting in her sustaining a deep two inch wound.

Doctors treated the nasty injury as Rayne shouted “aww you chicken nugget!” – her unusual way of expressing pain.

Although the stitches have now been removed, Rayne’s gash still requires bandaging two weeks on.

Her mother, Emma Mitchener, claims that she complained to a Hampshire County Council official who had come to inspect the area a week after Rayne’s fall.

However when she questioned the official about what the council planned to do he responded to say that the paving did not require any work.

The mum of five disagrees and believes something need to be done before others are injured.

She said: “It’s been like that as long as I’ve been here but I think something definitely needs to be done.

"I know something similar happened to one of our neighbours' children as well.

“They replaced some of the paving a few months ago but when I saw someone out there looking at the slabs I asked if they would fix them and he said they weren’t considered dangerous.

“I’m just scared it will happen again and next time it could be something worse and that is terrifying.”

The 39-year-old added: “There are so many children here and they all play out there together but they are children at the end of the day.

“The lights are all broken out there as well and now that it’s dark in the evenings, I think it’s quite dangerous.”

Councillor Seán Woodward, executive member for economy, transport and environment said: “I am sorry to hear that this young girl fell and hurt herself - I would urge residents to report defects to us, which can be done online, to ensure the County Council can respond as soon as possible.

"We have sent out an inspector to review the area at Venice Court to see if remedial work is required.

"Our work is prioritised on a safety first approach, ensuring we use the limited resources we have effectively.”