A North Yorkshire mum has been awarded a payout that could reach £400,000 after suffering a dislocated jaw during surgery that went badly wrong.

Amanda Walker sustained the injury during an operation at Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust Hospital in 2010 after she miscarried her baby twins at 12 weeks.

When she began to regain consciousness during a procedure to remove her womb, a mask intended to keep her airways open was applied with excessive force.

Afterwards the 48-year-old was unable to open her mouth more than two centimetres and was forced to live on a diet of bananas and soup for five years.

A surgeon specialising in facial reconstruction described Ms Walker’s jaw injuries as resembling those he had seen in car crash victims.

She will receive compensation of between £100,000 and £400,000 after the trust admitted liability, ending a lengthy legal battle.

Ms Walker, from Knaresborough, has undergone multiple operations to try to repair the damage and has been told she will have to carry out jaw exercises for half an hour every day for life.

Although she has been unable to return to her career in public relations and marketing, she now hopes to set up a tanning salon.

The trust’s medical director David Scullion said they have issued an apology to Ms Walker and had learned lessons from the episode.

No disciplinary action was taken against the anaesthetist who administered the mask.

“Hopefully this lady will receive an amount of money which she feels properly compensates her for the suffering she has been through,” said Paul Henderson, a personal injury specialist at Macks Solicitors.

“The injury was obviously bad enough, but it’s such a shame that the trust disputed liability for so long and that she had to cope with the additional worry and anxiety of the litigation and the prospect of a full trial in court.”