A GIRL left disabled after suffering severe spinal cord damage during birth has been awarded £5.85m in compensation.

The girl, now eight, who cannot be named for legal reasons, suffered severe injury to her upper spine during her birth at Basildon Hospital.

She will have significant care needs for the rest of her life due to her serious disabilities.

The High Court in London yesterday approved a settlement of £5.85 million to be paid to her which was negotiated by solicitors at law firm JMW with the hospital legal team.

The money will help her family to provide the care she requires and give the girl some financial security as her work opportunities are significantly curtailed despite her being very bright.

During her birth the girl became stuck and a locum doctor attempted to deliver her with a ventouse cup, an instrument which is attached to a baby’s head to enable doctors to pull them from the birth canal.

After two pulls by the doctor the ventouse delivery was unsuccessful and the girl was delivered via forceps.

She spent three days in neonatal intensive care.

Tests later revealed that she had damage to the upper part of her spinal cord and will be permanently disabled.

The legal team at JMW alleged that the ventouse cup was placed in the wrong position and was pulled with excessive force due to the severity of the injury to her spine.

In 2016 the hospital trust accepted liability on a 50 per cent basis which was approved by the High Court in London.

Eddie Jones, head of medical negligence at JMW Solicitors, said: “This is a very unusual case as it is rare to see such a significant spinal injury caused to a baby during birth. This girl and her family will have to live with the consequences of this for the rest of their lives but at least now they will have some financial help to make the best of a very tragic situation.

Dawn Patience, director of nursing at Basildon Hospital said: “The trust is very pleased that the parties have reached a settlement agreement, and wishes the family all the very best for the future”.