A mother is furious a bus company is refusing to buy her baby boy a new pram after it was left covered with millions of tiny shards of glass in a crash.

Vanessa Stapleton was waiting for the 602 at Roundbush Lane, Aldenham, with baby Tommy when it smashed into a lamppost and shattered the frame protecting the bus timetable.

The 14-week-old was left showered in heaps of glass, which covered his face and became embedded in the fabric of the pram.

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But even though the accident means the Mamas and Papas carriage is no longer safe to use, UNO buses has refused to reimburse her for a new one.

Ms Stapleton, 26, said: “The noise was like a loud bang and was such a shock to me that it took a moment to register what happened.

“Tommy was just screaming and I picked him up but he was rigid, he was like a limp rag-doll.

“He wouldn’t open his eyes. I thought he had been blinded from the glass.

“I quickly took him out of the pram and crouched down, blocked everyone out, and gently tried to say his name to get him to open his eyes.

“But all he would do was cry – he was unresponsive otherwise.”

The driver and two passengers jumped out of the bus to try and help and Ms Stapleton rang her mother, Laura, who was working at the nearby Roundbush Pub.

They took a distressed Tommy into the safety of the pub where they brushed the shards of glass off his skin and changed his clothes.

Watford Observer:

Eventually, he calmed down and they took him to Watford General Hospital to be checked over, where doctors swept pieces of glass out of his eyes.

Although he was given the all-clear, he has been off his food, more irritable and has been suffering from bouts of diarrhoea since the incident.

But because Ms Stapleton does not have a receipt for the pram, which was a hand-me-down from a friend given to her at her baby shower, UNO has refused to pay out for a new one.

They say she needs to show proof of purchase or the original box it came in, but she has repeatedly explained this is not possible.

In the meantime, she is almost housebound with Tommy as she is unable to afford to buy another pram.

“I am devastated, really anxious about the whole thing,” she said.

“I want this to be amicable, I don’t even want an injury claim.

“It feels like they’re brushing this off like everything is okay.

“They’ve offered the bus driver trauma counselling but they aren’t prepared to do anything for my son.

“I am traumatised by this too, and I can’t even leave the house. I am devastated and anxious about the whole thing.

“It’s made me upset and incredibly angry.”

James Thorpe, managing director, Uno Buses, said: "I was really concerned to hear that this glass broke over a pram, but very glad to hear that the baby in the pram wasn’t injured. I extend my sympathies to Ms Stapleton, the baby’s mother.

"The safety of pedestrians and passengers is our absolute priority and we are undertaking a full investigation into this incident.

"I have personally contacted Ms Stapleton and we are working to ensure we come to a satisfactory resolution as soon as possible."