A mother is suing a hospital trust which she blames for a nightmare birth that left her son brain damaged.

Alison Jones, 45, a mother of four, of Sherwood Road, Seaford, had pleaded for a Caesarean but complications led to her womb bursting and rupturing her uterus.

She has accused the Royal Sussex County Hospital of mismanaging her son's birth.

Her son Ellis, six, was born by ventouse, a suction cup on his head, but was starved of oxygen, leaving him with brain damage that caused tetraplegic cerebral palsy.

He has involuntary jerky movements, is unable to speak and has to be fed partly by tube because he cannot chew. He has a normal level of intelligence but will probably never stand or walk without support.

Mrs Jones says he would have been healthy if his birth had not gone wrong.

She plans to sue Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust for enough compensation to fund a lifetime's care.

She said: "It is a heartbreaking situation and it does make you angry, obviously. You go into hospital thinking you are going to come out safely."

Ellis was born on September 2, 1999. Mrs Jones begged doctors to give her a Caesarean section because she had been given one during the birth of her second child in 1993.

According to a High Court writ, she told consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist Robert Beard she feared her scar would burst. She says Mr Beard told her a Caesarean was unnecessary.

Hospital staff induced the birth, allegedly without warning her of the risks, and gave her two doses of the drug Prostin, which she says caused her uterus to rupture.

If Ellis had been born just ten minutes earlier, he would have been unharmed, the writ says.

She needed two operations after the birth and subsequently suffered pain and depression. She started drinking heavily but cut back when she was prescribed anti-depressants.

Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust said it was unable to comment on the case while legal proceedings were pending.