An authority had tried to fix a hole that caused a mother to fall into a road with her baby, it has said.

Essex County Council said an engineer visited the hole in the pavement of Loughton High Road on May 7, after a councillor reported it.

But the repair failed and Sanet Le Grange tripped a few days later.

A spokeswoman said: “The inspector who visited Loughton High Road and repaired the hole in the road on 14 May was not the only inspector to have visited the site to try to address the issue.

“An inspector had covered the hole on 7 May after Cllr Pond reported the matter but unfortunately this first temporary repair failed.

“We will ensure a permanent repair is carried out as soon as possible.”