A TEACHER has praised students who raised money for a charity supporting her daughter during her battle with a rare hip condition.

Last month pupils at Longfield Academy in Main Road sold hot drinks to raise £170 for Steps, which supports people with lower limb conditions.

The charity has helped PE teacher Nicola Davies’ three-year-old daughter Niamh since she was diagnosed with hip dysplasia - where the thigh bone is dislocated from the pelvis - at just one day old.

The 28-year-old said: “I am very grateful for all the hard work the students put in. The money raised will make a difference to others with the same condition as Niamh."

Niamh had to wear a cast until she was one-year-old to put her hip into the correct position.

Mrs Davies said: “If the condition had not been diagnosed until she began walking she would have been in the cast much longer.

“She will have a check up in October, but she is not showing any signs at the moment of anything being wrong, so we’re hopeful she has made a full recovery.

“She plays outside and climbs around the playground like any normal three-year-old.”

Mrs Davies praised Steps for its support throughout Niamh’s struggle with the condition, which included providing a special chair and advice on caring for her.

Steps is currently calling on the Government to force primary care trusts across the nation to introduce a formal policy for checking newborns for lower limb conditions.

It published a report last month showing 69 of the 121 PCTs it surveyed have no policy for screening.

Director Sue Banton said: "Our research highlights a staggering gap in health policy which, if correctly followed, could detect lower limb conditions at an early age and save both parents and children from years of pain and emotional distress.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Although a PCT may not have a separate policy for lower limb condition screening, it does not mean they have no screening procedures.”