A MOTHER has spoken of her horror after waste water spewed through a ceiling and onto her table during a birthday meal for her seven-year-old son.

Ava Child, 38, was at Jimmy's in Brighton Marina celebrating Otis's when a kitchen pipe from the separate premises upstairs broke and started gushing through the ceiling, on to her and her four month old son Rex's buggy.

Police went to the restaurant fearing a "breach of the peace" in the aftermath of the incident.

Mrs Child, of Gableson Avenue, Brighton said: "We had just started our food when I felt something wet.

"It went all down my front, into my mouth and covered my baby's buggy.

"It splattered on everyone else but the main part went onto the buggy. It was just disgusting.

"I jumped up from the table, screaming. We were really angry and we were all just standing there in shock."

Both the restaurant and Brighton and Hove City Council stressed the fluid was not sewage as Mrs Child believed.

Jimmy's told The Argus it had "apologised profusely" to Mrs Child, saying a joint had come off a kitchen sink pipe in the premises upstairs.

A spokesman said the accident did not affect food safety and customers affected were given "all possible assistance."

Insurers would be in touch with Mrs Child, he added.

A Sussex Police spokesman said officers were called at 5.46pm on Sunday by someone who said sewage had fallen on them when part of the ceiling collapsed.

Officers attended "as background noise suggested that a breach of the peace might occur", the spokesman added, but it was ultimately a civil matter.

Brighton and Hove City Council confirmed its environmental officers had also looked into it, and were satisfied the leak was accidental from a waste water pipe.

A spokesman added: "The restaurant closed off the affected area until a thorough clean-up had taken place.

"We are satisfied that this incident was dealt with appropriately by the restaurant and that there is no ongoing risk to customers."

Mrs Child said her son's birthday was ruined by the incident, saying: "By the time he got home it was nearly eight o'clock so it was too late to do anything and he was really upset."