A mum has told of the horrifying moment her five-year-old son was almost blinded after stumbling into an exposed screw.

Sophie Howes' little boy Georgie was left covered in blood after hitting his head on the metal fixing, which was sticking out of a fence in Ashford.

Taylor Wimpey, which owns the land where the accident occurred near its Cedar Parade development in Repton Park, has since apologised to the family and removed the fence.

But Miss Howes says the "dangerous" screw shouldn't have been there in the first place as it was "an accident waiting to happen".

The mum-of-four told KentOnline her son was left "so scared" and in tears after suffering a nasty gash above his eyebrow.

"I don't know how it happened," she said.

"Georgie was running in front of me with my little girl and all of a sudden he put his face in his hands and was crying.

"As I pulled his hands away, there was blood everywhere.

"My little girl said he'd run into the screw."

The 36-year-old says the screw was so dangerous - and could have been a lot worse as Georgie hit it just one centimetre above his eye.

"There was blood on his eyelashes and around his eyes - it was awful," she said.

"He now has a nasty gash above his eyebrow, which could scar.

"If he was a little bit taller, he could have been blinded.

"Or even if he had jumped, or stepped up, it easily could have gone straight into his eye."

Miss Howes, who is owner of Little Angel Delights children's clothes store in Ashford, says the route is used daily by hundreds of pupils.

"It's a main road towards a school - I use it every day," she said.

"When you're walking towards the school, you're basically going towards the screw, although it is on the other side of the path.

"But if my little boy could do it, you know what kids are like.

"It was an accident waiting to happen."

Miss Howes added that days before Georgie's nasty accident, her partner had seen the screw and said he wanted to get rid of it.

"He thought it would take a kid's eye out so wanted to fix it," she said.

"He didn't get round to it, and unfortunately our little boy got hurt."

"As soon as the damaged fence was reported to us, we took steps to remove it and make the area safe..."

A Taylor Wimpey spokesman said: "We are very sorry that a child was injured whilst playing at our development in Ashford.

"Health and safety is our priority. As soon as the damaged fence was reported to us, we took steps to remove it and make the area safe.

"We have been in touch with the affected family to confirm this and offer our apologies."