A woman had to have her leg amputated after stepping off a bus onto a metal spike.

Izzy Lloyd's left foot was pierced by the debris as she left an Arriva bus at its Maidstone depot.

The 49-year-old cleaner contracted the flesh-eating bug necrotising fasciitis after the wound became infected.

The effects of the injury were said to be so severe it left her just "four hours from death".

She had just finished cleaning a bus at Arriva's Armstrong Road depot when the object pierced her shoe and penetrated her foot.

Ms Lloyd is now set to receive substantial damages from her then employers, Arriva Southern Counties Limited.

"The compensation I get will help me to move on with my life, but nothing could ever give me back the family time and lifestyle I had before..." - Izzy Lloyd

Her leg was removed in January this year after the incident in 2010. She is now unemployed.

Ms Lloyd said: "Going to work is not meant to result in a life-threatening condition.

"The compensation I get will help me to move on with my life, but nothing could ever give me back the family time and lifestyle I had before."

Judge William Birtles at the City of London Court said Ms Lloyd alighted from one of buses she had been cleaning into the engineering bay.

He said: "On the floor there were pieces of metal, probably pop rivets, which should have been cleaned up and were not.

"Unfortunately the wound became infected resulting in necrotising fasciitis to her left foot and ankle."

By the time she was admitted to hospital, she required emergency surgery to control the infection. Necrotising fasciitis is a flesh eating bacteria which is little known or understood.

Ms Lloyd was represented by Unite. The union's director of legal services Howard Beckett said: "By the time she got to hospital she was told she was four hours from death, if the flesh eating condition was not treated immediately."

The scale of the damages is unlikely to be determined for at least a year.

Arriva’s regional managing director Heath Williams said: "We note the decision of the judge and I would emphasise that the safety and well-being of our employees is very important to us.

"We work hard to provide clear and safe working areas in our depots to minimise the risk of anyone hurting themselves at work."