THE tears of joy and the sound of little giggles epitomised the mood in the treatment room when little Hannah Ridout took her first steps.

And within minutes of standing up the bubbly four-year-old from Southampton was racing around putting her new leg to the test.

Hannah could hardly contain her excitement as her artificial leg was fitted for the first time yesterday at Dorset Orthopaedic Clinic, in Blashford, near Ringwood.

For her parents John Ridout and Sally Doughty, from Lordshill, the years of pain, waiting and frequent hospital visits are finally over.

Hannah had her leg amputated below the knee after she was born and since then she has been forced to struggle with ill-fitted artificial limbs.

But now following a campaign by the Daily Echo highlighting her plight Hannah will be able to join in with other children during playtime.

After wearing more than 15 unsuitable artificial legs provided by the National Health Service she now has the perfect fit - just in time for when she starts her first full day at school next Monday.

Mum Sally said: "She got her last a leg about three months ago and it was tight and cutting into her and she started getting blood blisters. This one is amazing it is absolutely brilliant.

"We used to have trouble with people staring and we're not going to have that now. I can not get used to the fact that my little girl has two legs."

The £2,694 silicon leg, which took about a week to make, looks almost human and is matched to the same colour as her right natural leg.

Hannah's dream was made possible by big-hearted computer consultant Rob Eskinazi who donated £3,000 to pay for the limb after an appeal for help in the Echo.

The father-of-two, from Chandler's Ford, said if he can still afford it he would still like to contribute in some sort of way to help Hannah when she grows out of her leg.

Mr Eskinazi, who was present at the fitting, said: "It has not only given Hannah the opportunity for a new life, her family can get their life back together."

The Echo launched its Make a Difference campaign last month to lobby the department of health to change its rules about releasing contributions for privately funded legs. Clinic owner and prosthetic specialist Bob Watts who made Hannah's leg, said the health service in Britain is lagging behind its Europeans neighbours for the government funds allocated for artificial limbs.

He said: "It is a crusade on our part to try and make the authorities realise that the clinicians need more time to be able to do the job properly."

Converted for the new archive on 25 January 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.