When 11-year-old Ellie Keenan started suffering from an anxiety attack in H&M her mum Edel Mceveney felt like she couldn’t do anything to help.

But then staff came to the rescue and took Ellie to their staff room to help her recover.

Now Ms Mceveney, 47, of Chipperfield Road, Orpington, wants the staff to get the recognition they deserve for their kind actions.

The attack started in H&M in the Glades Shopping centre on Bromley High Street last Wednesay at around 3pm.

The shop was packed. Ms Mceveney managed to get her daughter into a corner and then went to find a tissue because Ellie was crying.

Ms Mceveney spoke to a shop assistant who fetched the shop’s manager. The manager immediately took Ellie to the staff room so she could recover in peace, away from the busy shop floor.

Ellie was given a glass of water and comforted by a shop assistant who told her not to worry. The shop assistant explained she also got anxiety attacks and said that it would improve over time.

Ms Mceveney said: “I just want to say a huge thank you to those staff.

“They handled it so well. They didn’t make an issue of it or draw attention to the situation in hand, which could have made things worse.

“They acted quickly and showed compassion, understanding and kindness.

“A lot of people can relate to anxiety. As a parent, it is so hard to deal with because you can’t offer your little girl a quick fix. You can’t just give them a cuddle and make it better.

“All you can do is wait for it to pass.”

Ellie had to deal with the attack but Ms Mceveney believes it could have been a lot worse if it wasn’t for the quick action of staff.

Ms Mceveney said: “When she came out of the attack Ellie said, ‘I can’t believe how nice they were.’ It definitely helped it pass a lot quicker.”

It is not the first time that Ellie has had an anxiety attack.

Ms Mceveney said: “After Ellie’s first anxiety attack she was worried about when it would happen again.

“Now she isn’t dreading the next one. She is only worried when it is happening. It is people’s attitude that helps.”

Ms Mceveney posted about the incident on Orpington Gossip's Facebook page. Her post has recieved 810 likes at the time of writing. She said the support has been amazing.

The grateful mum has passed a message on to H&M’s area manager praising the action of the staff.

An H&M Spokesperson said: “At H&M our customers are always our priority. H&M staff will always try their best to help a customer in distress.”