Jessica Tinsley with mum Tanya and dad Chris,

Mum Tanya Tinsley said today she hoped the documentary would let people in similar circumstances know there was help available.

She said: “It is very rare to have it to Jess’s extreme. The doctors we spoke to said they had never seen anything like it.

“It all started when she was about 11 months old. She acts out her dreams or whatever she was doing that day.

“It obviously disturbs her sleep and our sleep but we are slowly getting better.

“Doctors first thought it was some kind of fitting problem.

“Then they looked at the possibility that it was a sort of epilepsy but it became clear it was something else.

“Many children get it to a minor extreme but Jess has been badly affected and it has been a problem for us.

“We have been told she will grow out of it but it has been going on for a while now and it has been a difficult time for us.”

Mrs Tinsley said the Cutting Edge team met the family when they sought help at St Thomas’s Hospital in London.

She said: “They were going to do a piece about several children but in the end they focused on Jess.

“The cameras followed us around and there were cameras in the house to show what happens.”

She added: “I thought the documentary was good. It showed the problem and showed that help is out there.”

Mrs Tinsley said the couple’s other child, two-year-old Ryan, was not affected by the condition.

By Iain St John