The mother of a girl who contracted E. coli O157 after visiting Godstone petting farm in Surrey told the London Evening Standard how her daughter nearly died from kidney failure.

Six-year-old Faye Jones (right) had to undergo dialysis as well as two blood transfusions and could face long-term organ damage because she visited the petting farm.

Her mother Wendy hit out at health officials for not closing the farm sooner, then unfairly blaming parents for ignoring handwashing notices, adding,

"This has affected our whole family. Faye was like a bag of bones – her body went into shock from the toxins. I hope that no other child ever has to endure what mine did and that lessons have been learned. I’m angry that the farm didn’t act soon enough and that there was not enough of a concern with the Health Protection Agency to shut it. They said parents were neglectful at not getting children to wash their hands. But that’s not true."

Faye is among 27 children set to receive what may amount to millions in compensation. This week the farm’s owners revealed they would not contest a legal action brought on behalf of the children and one adult after the outbreak in August 2009.

A total of 93 people developed the potentially fatal bug and 76 of those taken ill were children under 10.

Mrs Jones, 35, revealed that Faye was at first wrongly diagnosed with dysentery when she began passing blood a week after visiting the farm.

"Her grandparents, who took her, went through hell blaming themselves. I’m not a parent to wrap a child in cotton wool but I won’t take her to a farm again without gloves. … Faye’s grandmother is fastidious about hand-washing and she always carries gel. There was just one sign about washing. The real reason this happened was the children were near straw covered in animal feces."