Doctors have apologised to the parents of a toddler who had the wrong arm plastered after she broke her wrist at a party.

Mother-of-three Sarah Benn was horrified to see the blunder when husband Alistair and 18-month-old Kaylee returned from hospital.

A neighbour had driven the pair to the Conquest Hospital in Hastings after Kaylee fell from a slide and would not stop crying.

But after she had spent four hours in casualty, medics put the wrong arm in plaster before sending her home.

Care assistant Sarah immediately phoned the hospital who checked the X-rays and confirmed a mistake had been made.

A taxi was sent to pick up the toddler and her parents so the original cast could be removed and a new one put on the broken arm.

Sarah, 23, from Bexhill, said: "We were at my sister's for a christening party. Kaylee had been up and down the slide in the garden a few times but then she started crying.

"We thought she'd banged her head so I put her to lay down for a while. But when she tried to lift herself out of a chair, she started crying and holding her arm to her mouth so I thought it might be that.

"The lady next door said it looked a bit swollen and offered to drive Kaylee and my husband to the hospital.

"I was waiting for them to return but when I saw Kaylee I couldn't believe it. I said 'Hold on a minute, that's the wrong arm.'

"Alistair hadn't realised because he had been busy trying to calm Kaylee down when she was screaming and crying in pain.

"I got straight on the phone and ranted and raved. They took the name and said they would call me back when they'd looked at the X-rays.

"They phoned back and apologised and said I was right. They asked me to bring her back in but we haven't got a car so they said they'd send a taxi.

"By the time they'd replaced the plaster, Kaylee was so stressed and upset she was sick. She was up all night. We couldn't get her to settle."

The couple have been asked to return to the hospital to discuss what happened and have been told the doctor involved has been asked to make a statement.

Sarah said: "I didn't hear anything for four days then I got a letter of apology asking us to come in for a meeting.

"I want something done because it could have been a lot worse. What if they were operating on someone and amputated the wrong leg or something?

"I know these people work hard but they should be more careful, especially when treating a young child who can't tell them they've got it wrong.

A Conquest Hospital spokeswoman said: "We would like to offer our sincere apologies to Kaylee and her parents.

"We will be investigating why this occurred and will put in place procedures to ensure it will not happen again."