A children's play centre manager told how she bravely performed CPR on a two-year-old girl who had fallen unconscious after hitting her head.

Lisa Anderson sprung into action at the Stay and Play Indoor Soft Play Centre, in Durham Road, Laindon, after a youngster smacked her head on a football pitch.

The girl tumbled backwards and hit her head when she was kicking a ball.

She cried and ran to her mother, and then fell unconscious. It was then that Ms Anderson took control of the situation.

She said: “The mother ran over to me and told me what happened. I went over to the football pitch, and everyone was screaming. The girl was not breathing.

“Everyone was saying how calm I was, but in fact I was actually shaking.

“She went blue and I performed CPR on her, and her colour came back. She coughed and started to breathe.

“I want to commend two of my other staff members who acted very quickly during the situation. They assured parents and assisted the ambulance when they arrived.

“When it was all over, I cried because there was a lot of pressure. Even though I have the training but you don’t think it’ll ever happen to you. It was such a relief to make a difference.”

The ambulance took the girl to Basildon Hospital for further care.

Ms Anderson said that since the incident, which happened on Tuesday, more than 1,000 parents have signed up to the centre’s CPR training ran in conjunction with the British Heart Foundation.

Ms Anderson said it was extremely important to learn CPR.

She said: “Years ago my daughter fell unconscious at a shopping centre. There was no staff member there who knew how to do CPR. We were told to put her in the car and get to the hospital. I was very shocked that no one knew how to do it.”

The girl’s mum posted on Facebook: “I wanted to thank everyone who works at Stay and Play for their quick-thinking and calm actions. Lisa was excellent and was able to administer first aid and get my girl breathing. Lisa didn’t hesitate and was able to focus in the most awful situation. I was incredibly upset and all of the staff were very comforting, and once my daughter was breathing and under the care of the paramedic, they could not do enough to support us.”

A spokesman from the ambulance service said: “We were called at 11.36am on October 18 to Durham Road, Laindon, to a report of a child who had suffered a head injury and was unconscious.

“A rapid response vehicle and ambulance crew attended. The child was conscious and breathing and was taken to Basildon Hospital for further care.”