A WOMAN has been awarded more than £7,000 compensation from a shoe shop - after she broke her ankle when her high heel snapped.

Sophie King, 20, took legal action against Dolcis after the two-and-a-half inch heel split and sent her sprawling during a night out.

Legal experts say her case could open the floodgates for hundreds of similar claims from women who take a tumble in their heels. Sophie, from Knutsford, had bought the black strappy shoes for £35 from Dolcis in the Trafford Centre.

She wore them for the first time on a night out with friends in Manchester centre. She said: "As I was walking down the tram platform the shoe snapped and I went over on it. It was really painful but I didn't want to ruin the night for everyone so we went on to the first bar.

"I began to feel better after a couple of drinks. But then the next thing I knew I'd passed out and was in the back of an ambulance."

Sophie, who is studying English literature at Durham University, had broken her ankle. She had several weeks in plaster and an operation.

She said it stopped her from playing sports at college and that she had to quit a waitressing job she had secured over the Christmas holidays.

At Manchester County Court she was awarded £7,200 after the shoe firm admitted the high heels were faulty. The case has taken more than three years to settle.

Sophie, currently working as an au pair in Spain, says the whole experience has put her off wearing heels.

She said: "I'm 5ft 9in and hardly ever wore them anyway so it was really annoying. Now I just stick to really chunky heels if I'm wearing them at all."

She thinks other women may take inspiration from her case.

She said: "I know so many people who have gone over in their heels it's not funny.

"It wouldn't surprise me if more people came forward."

Mike Hardacre, from Manchester law firm Pannone, which represented Sophie, said: "Sophie could prove that she had bought the shoes and this was the first time she had worn them. She managed to get Dolcis to accept that there had been a fault with the manufacturing.

"In English law she was well protected under the Sale of Goods Act so it was relatively straightforward."

Mr Hardacre said that other women who have suffered similar fates may now come forward.

"If they have had the shoes for six months and it happens then it would be a lot more complicated," he said. "But if they have just bought the shoes and the shop accepts liability they could and should take it up. Because Sophie was injured so badly there was compensation but I would say in cases without injury customers would be entitled to have back the money they paid."

Dolcis went into administration in January. The firm's parent company, Alexon, declined to comment on the case when contacted.