A GWENT schoolgirl may need to have part of her face rebuilt after falling in a shopping area and smashing her cheekbone.

Jessica Phillips, aged 11, from Chapel Mead, Goytre, near Pontypool, was shopping with her mother, Cheryl, aged 34, in Cwmbran on Saturday afternoon, when one of her shoes was caught in a ventilation grille outside the Woolworths store.

Mrs Phillips said: "Jessica then fell and smashed her face on the kerb. She was very distressed, shocked and confused, and her injuries are horrendous, with phenomenal bruising, and we had to rush her to hospital."

Jessica was taken to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital, where she was X-rayed and told she had suffered a fracture to her left cheekbone.

She was due to return to the hospital today so that surgeons can diagnose whether she will need reconstructive treatment for any permanent damage there may be to her cheekbone.

An angry Mrs Phillips said: "I just want to make sure that something is done about the ventilation grilles."

She claimed to have heard details of two other injuries caused there, saying: "The paramedic who attended to Jessica on Saturday told me that one of her relatives had fallen and broken her arm, and I know a nurse in Cwmbran who treated a patient who suffered broken ribs after falling there."

Mrs Phillips said: "We are not seeking compensation at the moment, although I believe we've got a good case.

"The thing that worries me is that the grilles haven't been there long and we've already had three nasty accidents."

She said that Jessica, a pupil at Goytre Junior School, has got crucial SATS examinations in May and would probably miss school next week because of her injuries, and even more time if she requires an operation.

Cwmbran Shopping, who are responsible for the grilles, said there were no plans to remove them and that they had been built as a fire precaution.

Operations manager Tim Barry said: "The grilles are there for a purpose in that they would expel air from the car park below in the event of a fire. We treat accidents very seriously and we have full details of what happened to Jessica, which will be forwarded to our insurance company."

Mr Barry said that due to "individual confidentiality" he was unable to comment on the two other accidents mentioned by Mrs Phillips.

PICTURE: Cheryl Phillips with daughter, Jessica, who fell and fractured her cheekbone when her shoe became caught in a ventilation grille