A mother-of-two successfully claimed thousands of pounds in compensation from a Brentwood nursery after her son was allegedly bitten by a bearded dragon.

The 37-year-old, who wishes to remain unnamed, said her son – who was under two at the time – was bitten on his left index finger by the reptile at Clever Tots Day Nursery in Brentwood in 2016.

She said he suffered a "moderate laceration and bruising" to his finger, and a doctor’s report she submitted as part of her case, seen by the Recorder, noted he was suffering with anxiety around animals.

It further stated there would be “probabilities some scarring may persist”.

Clever Tots Day Nursery was contacted for comment and did not respond, but Chelmsford County Court, where the case was heard, confirmed the judge ordered the nursery to pay the family £4,500.

The defendant paid the amount in 2019 and the claimant said it remains in her son’s savings account.

Following the alleged bite, the 37-year-old said she took her child out of the nursery.

At the time of the incident, the mother only had one child, and she said: “We didn’t know what was normal and what wasn’t because this was our first child."

This comes after this newspaper reported the childcare provider had its Ofsted registration suspended due to concerns in October last year.

At the time, a Clever Tots spokesperson thanked its “families for their constructive challenges, patience and commitment through this very challenging time”.

They added that "correct affirmative steps" were being taken to get the suspension lifted.

Now, after a regulatory visit to monitor the situation, the suspension has been lifted and the provider is once again registered with Ofsted.

Its licence was reinstated on February 14 because Clever Tots has taken “appropriate action to deal with the matter that led to the suspension”, Ofsted said.

The education regulator is now satisfied that the risk of harm to children has been removed, it added.

Ofsted was contacted for comment about the alleged bearded dragon incident but said it cannot comment on specific cases.