A TEENAGER was robbed and his mother headbutted when she went to rescue him from a gang of up to 50.

Her 999 call to police was routed into London where the Met then sent it back into Essex.

Now the furious mother is demanding that police change their methods and thanking God her 13-year-old is safe.

Donna Law's nightmare began when her son Steven was with four friends in Loughton High Road on Friday evening. They were all chased by a 40 to 50-strong group.

They fled but were then confronted and surrounded by other gang members before Steven and a friend had their mobile phones stolen.

During the chase some of Steven's friends became separated from him and one managed to call Mrs Law.

She said: "His friend told me what was happening; he said they had him surrounded so I went straight down there with my friend. It was only around 7.30pm.

"Although Steven is only 13, I consider that to be a safe time for him to be out."

Mrs Law said she made her first call to police at around 7.45pm but was connected to an operator in the Metropolitan Police area.

By then Steven and his friends had made their way towards Traps Hill where they were again surrounded.

Mrs Law said: "When I was there I was approached by a black man who was around 6ft tall who headbutted me in the face.

"They had taken Steven's phone and gone through his pockets. They made gestures that suggested they had tools of some kind in their pockets, and I was racially taunted the whole time I was speaking to them.

"They were not intimidated by me, they just kept hurling abuse and when we said we had called the police, they just started making pig noises."

An Essex Police spokesman said: "We do not know when the first call was made but 999 calls in Loughton get routed to the Metropolitan Police who have to take the details and assess the situation.

"We received a call at 8.02pm and we got a second call at 8.04pm. We already had people on the scene watching the group of 40-50 youths."

Six officers were there and two youths were questioned but did not match descriptions given, the spokesman said.

Mrs Law is now demanding a policy change to ensure calls meant for Essex Police get through immediately.

She said: "It makes no sense and at the end of the day it's making Loughton an unsafe place to be.

"It's not a viable situation, you expect to pick the phone up and get a response. It's just not good enough.

"I would have presumed Essex calls go to Essex Police, but if the call does go to the Metropolitan Police, the response should be the same."

She added: "My son is very traumatised and one of his friend said he thought Steven was going to be stabbed when they all surrounded him.

"I just thank God I managed to get down there."