A little girl banged her head and was taken by ambulance to A&E after putting her foot in a hole and tripping over at a popular play park.

Two-year-old Maya suffered a concussion and threw up after the accident at Burton Down Recreation Ground in Herne Bay on Sunday afternoon.

The toddler had been running between two pieces of equipment, with her mum Anniliese Tappenden following behind, when she fell face-first onto the concrete.

Once picking her daughter up and seeing her grazed face, Anniliese discovered a “huge” hole, about 10cm deep, in the grass.

The 23-year-old believes the incident was “completely avoidable” and that Canterbury City Council, which manages the park, should have fixed the issue long ago.

Hours after KentOnline contacted the local authority on Monday morning, workers had filled the hole.

Recalling the moment Maya tripped, Anniliese said: “She was lying on the floor, hysterically crying.

“My partner could hear her from down the road.

“I brushed over the grass to find that her foot had gone down this hole, which had caused her to fall.

“She had this huge purple bump on the head with grazing, swelling and bruising along with her cheek and a very swollen lip.”

When her usually chatty daughter became quiet and drowsy, Anniliese took her to the urgent treatment centre at the town’s Queen Victoria Memorial Hospital.

Maya was checked over and sent home, with her parents told to monitor her.

But a short while later, the youngster vomited while resting on the sofa and Anniliese called 999.

An ambulance arrived within minutes of the call and the family spent the rest of the afternoon and night in paediatric A&E.

Doctors considered a CT scan before Maya perked up on the ward, and her nausea is believed to be from a mild concussion.

“Seeing her behaviour change was ringing alarm bells to us,” said Anniliese

“She's normally so outgoing, very loud, bubbly and energetic.

“But she was asking to go to bed. It was very scary - horrific.

“I think it will have knocked her a bit. I don’t know if she will be put off the park, but I hope not.

“It could have been a lot worse - a broken leg, she could have smashed half of her teeth out, a broken nose.”

City council spokesman Rob Davies told KentOnline that as soon as they were made aware of the incident, arrangements were made to get the hole filled in and made safe.

“We were very concerned to hear about this incident and send our best wishes to the little girl and her family for a speedy recovery,” he said.

Anniliese says other residents had told her the hole had been there “for a couple of years”.

“Play parks are supposed to be there for children to have fun and to be safe in their outdoor environments, not to have serious accidents,” she said.

“We now have to see our baby in pain, uncomfortable, and very bruised, knowing this was completely avoidable.

“It's just not fair. We pay a lot of money to have these things.”

Safety concerns that arise outside of usual working hours can be reported to the city council via the out-of-hours number 01227 781879.

According to the NHS, you should take your child to A&E if: they have a head injury that’s larger than 5cm; they have been knocked out and woken up; or if they have vomited since the injury.

You can find a full list of symptoms here.