A MUM whose toddler was crushed to death by a wall built by a cowboy builder has revealed how she is still haunted by the agony 15 years later.

       Meg Burgess was just three when the 5ft-tall wall collapsed and killed her instantly as she walked home with her mum Lindsay, 43, in Prestatyn, North Wales.

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       Meg Burgess was just three when the 5ft-tall wall crushed her as she walked home with her mum Lindsay, 43 (pictured now) 6

       Meg (pictured), her mum Lindsay and brother Wilson, then just a baby, were just 100 yards from home after walking to the shops to buy sugar to make a birthday cake 6

       The remains of the wall that crushed little Meg Credit: FPNW

       Lindsay, who now has a smiling five-month-old baby boy Theodore with a new partner, is still fighting for change 15 years on.

       She told Sun Online: "Meg would be 18 now if it wasn’t for a reckless, incompetent builder and what happened was preventable.

       "Meg had such a lust for life, she made me go out that day to make me a cake for my birthday and on the way back from the shops she died.

       "I can’t live my life without trying to make a change in her name."

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       Builder George Collier was convicted of manslaughter by gross negligence five years after the toddler's death just 100 yards from her home on July 26, 2008.

       JAILTIME

       He was jailed for two years, though released after 12 months, following a trial at Mold Crown Court.

       Lindsay said: "He sat there in court with a bucket beside him for vomiting in, but as far as I am concerned he is not the issue – it’s a much bigger picture and proper regulation could save lives."

       Meg, her mum Lindsay and brother Wilson, then just a baby, were just 100 yards from home after walking to the shops to buy sugar to make a birthday cake.

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       As the grey blocks of concrete collapsed, the breeze it created brushed Lindsay’s face.

       And she desperately reached out her arms to try to grab her daughter, who was tragically just inches away.

       "I was a hand reach away from saving her, or seconds away from being crushed myself with a second dead child. It all happened so fast."

       Fighting back tears as the 15th anniversary of her daughter’s death looms, Lindsay said: "I don’t want to talk about blame – I want to talk about prevention.

       "One in three people won’t undertake construction work for fear of getting a cowboy builder.

       "We need to talk about regulation, to remove incompetent builders and rogue traders from the industry.

       "I had nothing to do with the building work that killed Meg, but when the wall had fallen Meg was lying there and 90 per cent of the bones in her body from the neck down were broken and crushed.

       "She died instantly. I had PTSD being left standing there with a pram and our baby Wilson – having seen our beautiful daughter lying their dead."

       FLOWER GIRL

       Meg picked a flower on the day she died and said "it was a beautiful day", according to Lindsay.

       She added: "She had a way of bringing everything to a special moment. Her picking that flower and sniffing it and saying that are among the many memories I have of a beautiful little girl.

       "I know that she didn’t suffer and it was instant, but it was so horrendous back then and horrendous waiting for the trial."

       Lindsay's relationship with Pete ended, but she's found love again with Thomas Clarke, 46, a business owner from Stockport, Greater Manchester.

       "Nothing is as terrifying as losing a child and we lost the most beautiful daughter I have ever seen in my life.

       "Every anniversary is painful, the hot weather, my birthday looming it brings it all back, the atmosphere is so very sombre.

       "The week before the anniversary in July it starts to get more painful.

       "The boys are just amazing, they show reverence and respect and are so very resilient.

       "In Meg’s memory something really needs to be done – nobody wants anyone else to die at the hands of cowboy builders?"

       Lindsay and Meg's dad Pete set up Meg's Campaign, in memory of their "special princess", calling on the Government to tighten up rules for domestic builders by licensing them.

       Lindsay, who also has teenage sons Wilson, 16, and Jackson, 14, said: "I think there's a real risk that people think, what an unlucky accident, and I know there are lots of people having their homes renovated at the moment.

       "I'd really like those people to ask the question, even when they see their builder next: what qualifications do you have to do this job? How experienced are you? Do you have insurance?

       "Licensing the domestic building trade would mean so much to me. Meg's life would count for something and I feel it would bring justice to her."

       COWBOY BUILDERS

       The couple are still contacted by people afraid of cowboy builders.

       Lindsay, who works for the NHS as well as running her own art business The Paint Republic, added: "I went to visit a house locally with a dodgy wall, the builder was in tears as I spoke with him and he said: ‘We took it down as soon as we realised.'

       "But that is no defence, that is incompetence, but at least that builder listened. I still reported them, because you worry how much else have they done that is wrong?"

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       A construction industry-wide task force was set up to investigate the issue, but the pandemic intervened and progress virtually halted.

       The Sun Online has contacted the Welsh Government and the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government for comment.

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       Lindsay and her daughter were incredibly close 6

       Lindsay is pictured during the court case 6

       Meg picked a flower on the day she died and said 'it was a beautiful day', according to Lindsay