A TAXI driver has been labelled rude and unsympathetic for refusing to drive a toddler to hospital after he had cut his head open while travelling in the back of his cab.

Laura Grooms and her son Callum Nugent, who is two later this month, were travelling from Barbourne back to their home in Hollymount Road, Tolladine, Worcester, when the driver had to brake suddenly at a junction.

The youngster was sent flying forwards and smashed his head on the plastic panel which separates the driver from the passengers.

He was left with a nasty open wound around his eye socket which was pouring with blood.

Miss Grooms feared the injury would need urgent medical attention so asked if the driver could take them to Worcestershire Royal Hospital. The driver refused and Miss Grooms did not have enough cash to pay for both journeys.

Mrs Grooms was forced to pay the outstanding fare then wait half-an-hour for her mother to arrive and give them a lift.

Calum was taken to A&E and after over four hours of treatment and tests he was discharged. He didn’t need stitches.

Miss Grooms, aged 21, said: “We were at a junction near to our home and the driver pulled out when a car was coming the other way. I shouted him to stop and when he did Calum was sent flying through the air.

“His eye was split right open and it was pouring with blood. Calum was crying and so was I. It was a very nasty injury.

“The driver could see it was serious and I asked if he could take us straight to hospital but he refused and just asked for the fare.

“The taxi driver was rude and completely unsympathetic. Any decent person would have offered to take us to the hospital.”

Miss Grooms, who works at Marks & Spencer, High Street, Worcester, said she had put a seatbelt on her son but thinks it did not click in properly.

Tarik Mahmood, manager of TOA taxis, said he had apologised to Miss Grooms and the driver involved had been suspended for two days.

He said: “What happened shouldn’t have happened. I apologised and suspended the driver. But I did ask why the boy wasn’t wearing his seatbelt. All our drivers are self-employed and licensed by Worcester City Council. They are not employees of TOA.”

A Worcester City Council spokesman said it was the responsibility of taxi drivers to ensure children under 14 wore seatbelts.