A mum who abandoned her daughter on a busy Spanish beach while she went boozing in a hotel bar is still waiting to be reunited with the 11-year-old.

Alicia Jenkins, 42, spent two hours drinking while the youngster wandered alone around the bustling resort of Salou on the Costa Dorada.

Jenkins, of Buttercup Drive, Rochdale, was arrested and admitted a charge of child abandonment. She was given a six-month suspended prison sentence when she appeared before a magistrate in Tarragona.

Now she is back in the £58-a-night California Garden hotel waiting for news of her daughter, who was taken into care by Spanish social services.

The girl was being looked after in a care home and the authorities will not say when the pair will be reunited.

The mum-of-six had booked the two-week holiday with the 11-year-old and left her other children at home with estranged husband Shafaq Ahmed.

On Sunday, her daughter was discovered by a concerned British couple wandering around the resort while Jenkins was sitting in the hotel bar.

When the couple tracked her down, Jenkins hurled obscenities at them. She was arrested and fast-tracked through the Spanish courts.

Mr Ahmed, a 40-year-old taxi driver, told the M.E.N he was ‘standing by’ his estranged wife, claiming she was a brilliant mum. He said: “Alicia is absolutely devastated. She rang me in tears and can’t believe what happened. The first thing she said was ‘I’m sorry’.”

He added: “This nightmare was caused by alcohol. She rarely drinks because she can’t handle it. She lost the plot for a moment and is paying a very heavy price.”

The pair split up last year after 14 years of marriage but hope to get back together, he added.