A young mum is complaining about the state of Dunmow High Street after her double buggy turned up-side-down with the children underneath it – on a pedestrian crossing.

Laura Howard said: “The wheels hit a hole on the road and the entire pushchair tipped over. Both my children landed on their faces. I couldn’t believe the depth of the hole and the fact that it could overturn a double buggy.

“My son had just left the doctor’s with an ear infection and he was left with a cut lip and a banged head. Both the children were crying because they were shocked.”

Little Marley, aged two and Amber, one, who were strapped into the buggy, found themselves underneath it. Mum Laura couldn’t release them at first because her leg had been caught in the pushchair.

She said: “Luckily a lovely man ran down the road to pick the kids up. My son hit his head and bit his lip. My daughter who is smaller wasn’t hurt because she was inside the buggy but she was frightened.”

Ms Howard said she wanted to thank the man who had come to their rescue. He disappeared as soon as he had set things to rights and before she could tell him how grateful they were.

She said: “He was in his early 30s and possibly Italian or Portuguese from his accent. He came past a lot of other people who were just standing watching what had happened.

“Also a lovely lady looked after the children whilst I took pictures of the dip in the road. As I continued to walk through Dunmow, I was shocked at the amount of holes and dangerous paths there are in the town.

“Luckily my children only had fat lips and small cuts. It could have been a lot worse. We were on a crossing where you are supposed to be safe to cross the road.”

The incident happened last week, on Tuesday, February 23, in the middle of the road at the crossing not far from the war memorial.

Ms Howard, 29, a hairdresser, said she had been sitting in a café with the children, having got a bus into town when she noticed that her son, Marley had a high temperature.

“I took him to the doctors and he was diagnosed with an ear infection, so he had already been pulled about at the surgery before this happened.

“The only way of avoiding the dip in the road would have been to have gone outside the silver studs on the crossing and crossed between the cars.”

An Essex Highways spokesman said: “We last inspected this section of the road in February, but as a result of this incident we will inspect this section again with particular concentration on the surface for pedestrians on the crossing. We would urge anyone with concerns to report them directly to us at www.essexhighways.org or on 03456 037 631.”