Three-year-old Remi Bowen was crying in agony and clutching her injured shin, said her mum Lorraine, who pleaded with nurses for an X-ray.

"We knew something was badly wrong because Remi could not put her foot to the floor. But all the nurse said was: 'We'll give her some paracetamol and wait and see if she starts walking around and playing'."

"We just sat in the children's waiting area and after a couple of hours Remi was in a terrible state, sweating and very distressed. We called for help and this time they gave her Nurofen," said Lorraine, who arrived at Milton Keynes hospital at 12 noon on Saturday after Remi injured her leg while playing in their Conniburrow garden.

This week the hospital disputed the time of the wait, saying it was only two hours and 20 minutes. But Lorraine is adamant her times are correct.

"It was the longest three hours of our lives. We were checking the time every few minutes," she said.

"As it approached 3pm we couldn't bear it any more. I went to find a nurse and said 'We have a three-year-old in agony and no-one is doing anything about it.' A doctor was nearby and he immediately said Remi had to be sent through to X-ray."

The X-ray confirmed the tot had a broken tibia – shinbone – and she was given morphine to ease the pain before being put in a toe to thigh plaster.

"The doctor told us they were sorry and said they hadn't realised it was so bad. But we are furious Remi had to suffer for so long and was encouraged to walk on a broken leg," said Lorraine, who plans to lodge an official complaint.

A hospital spokeswoman told the Citizen this week: "As part of assessing the seriousness of a child's condition, the triage nurse would have asked her to try to put weight on her leg (ie walk).

"As it is not good for children to receive unnecessary X-rays, it is important that a less serious injury is ruled out at an early stage."

She said Remi was X-rayed as soon as possible but apoligised if the services were "not up to the standards expected by the family".