A Shropshire woman today claimed a wheel broke off a brand new pushchair with her one-week-old granddaughter in it as they crossed a busy county road.

Morag McKay, from Bayston Hill, said it was “despicable” that the new pushchair, which she said cost £400, had broken the first time it was used and is considering legal action against the retailer – Mothercare.

She said the incident could have been far more serious as her grandchild was in the pushchair at the time with her family crossing the busy A49 in the village, near Shrewsbury.

The pushchair was bought from Mothercare, and the firm today spoke of its “concern” about the incident and said its technicians were carrying out a “full investigation”.

Mrs McKay said the incident happened when she was crossing the road with her daughter Shelley McLoughlin, 20, and her granddaughter Malikaa.

She said: “We took my granddaughter out in a brand new buggy bought from Mothercare and the rear wheel fell off as we were crossing the A49.

“We took it outside and as we went across the road the wheel fell off.

“I think it’s despicable. My daughter was absolutely in bits, we all were. I want to raise awareness because my granddaughter could have fallen out and smashed her head on the pavement or anything.”

She said the family was considering taking legal action against Mothercare.

A spokeswoman for Mothercare said: “Mothercare is committed to the highest levels of product safety and customer service and we were very concerned to hear about Mrs McLoughlin’s experience.

“We have been in touch and have arranged for a replacement pushchair to be delivered to her immediately. Her previous one has been returned to us so our expert technicians can conduct a full investigation.

“We are acutely aware of just how distressing this incident must have been for Mrs McLoughlin and her family and we are taking the incident very seriously. Once we have completed our investigations we will contact Mrs McLoughlin.”

By John Kirk