A disabled child was left hungry, thirsty and in pain for more than 24 hours while waiting for an operation.

Eleven-year-old Elliott Collins, who has cerebral palsy, was admitted to Bradford Royal Infirmary on Thursday morning after falling while holding a glass.

After being assessed doctors decided an operation was necessary to check the extent of the damage and remove three shards of glass.

Elliott and his family, of Calderwood Close, Wrose, were taken to ward two and told an operation under anaesthetic would take place "soon". In the meantime the youngster was told not to eat or drink.

However, when they were still waiting more than 24 hours later Elliott's mother, Jane, contacted the Telegraph & Argus in desperation. Mrs Collins said: "He is starving and thirsty. They have said that a child in this position can wait for days because they are not on a list. He might not have been ill when he got here but he will be when we leave. He is in pain and he just wants to go home."

The nightmare for the family began at breakfast time on Thursday when Elliott, who has balance problems because of his cerebral palsy, fell over while holding a glass.

His mother took him to A&E at 8.46 am where he was seen by a doctor. Mrs Collins said: "They decided that he needed an operation and we went to ward two at 11am. They said the operation would be done soon but by 9pm I said enough was enough and I was taking him home."

The family, including dad Terry, went back to the hospital on Friday expecting the operation to be done quickly but he did not go to theatre until 4pm.

But no glass was found when the two-and-a-half hour operation, which had been expected to take minutes, finally took place. Elliot also had to be kept in overnight because of sickness due to the anaesthetic.

Mrs Collins said: "He has had some awful surgery in the past due to his cerebral palsy, which traumatised him, so the last thing he wants is to be in hospital.

"Do they think they can starve and dehydrate them for days on end? He is not even the only one here in this position."

Doctors had also kept three-year-old Jack Macdonald without food and water for nine hours before cancelling his operation on Thursday.

Jack, of Park Lane, Little Horton was taken to hospital by his mother Louise, 27, to undergo an operation on his finger which had been trapped in a door. Doctors at Bradford Royal Infirmary had asked Miss Macdonald to bring him in at 8am the next day.

Eventually they were told Jack would have to wait until Saturday to have his finger set, although no time was given for the operation. She said: "I feel so upset and think that this hospital is just shoddy."

Miss Macdonald said she was waiting to speak to a manager so that she could make a formal complaint.

A spokesman for Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, which manages BRI, said: "We're extremely sorry about the delay which was caused by a number of sudden, urgent cases and an emergency admission involving a child with a life-threatening condition. We know how traumatic it can be for anyone, especially a child to wait for surgery. We are currently exploring the possibility of providing theatre sessions specifically for hand injuries."