The mother of a boy who died after catastrophic floods struck Surrey in 2014 has told of how she fought to revive him.

Zane Gbangbola, seven, a pupil at St George’s Junior School in Weybridge, died in February 2014 after his family home in Chertsey flooded.

His parents believe he was poisoned by hydrogen cyanide gas that had leaked from an old landfill site near their house.

Tests following a post-mortem examination found Zane had died of carbon monoxide poisoning, while Spelthorne Council and the Environment Agency both deny hydrogen cyanide had caused his death.

Zane’s parents, Nicole Lawler and Kye Gbangbola, won their battle to secure legal representation at a six-week inquest earlier this week thanks to an anonymous £25,000 donation to their appeal for funds.

Read more: Zane Gbangbola inquest: Family secures legal team after mysterious £25,000 donation

In heartbreaking testimony, Ms Lawler told Woking Coroner’s Court yesterday she and Zane had settled down to watch television before he fell asleep.

She said: “Zane did his usual bedtime routine of preparing for bed and having a bath.

“We were eager to watch the opening ceremony of the winter Olympics in Russia.

“I could hear him snoring as he'd had a cold. He was comfortable.”

But after checking on Zane, who had been ill that week, “at least once an hour”, Ms Lawler found him unresponsive at about 3.30am on Saturday, February 8.

She added: “I couldn't hear him snoring. I was at the foot of the bedroom, Zane had moved forward so I tried to re-position him and that's when I knew.

“He had wet himself, he'd never done it. He was lying on his front. I put him onto the landing and I was very vocal in compressions.

“I'd been a St John Ambulance member for years and years. Zane's jaw was locked and [the 999 call handler] was telling me to go get a neighbour.

“I was losing my child. I felt very dizzy all through, I managed to keep it together until Zane was taken from me, at which point I collapsed.”

Paramedics then arrived.

The family had bought a number of electric pumps to remove floodwater from their Victorian home in Thameside, Chertsey.

Zane had been sleeping in an upstairs room because hoses had been fed through open windows to extract the water.

The day before Zane died, Ms Lawler had rented a petrol-powered water pump from Surrey Hire and Sales in Addlestone as back-up.

Though the pump developed a fault, it was later fixed and was last in use at 1.30pm the afternoon before Zane died, the court heard.

An investigation into whether Surrey Hire and Sales was criminally liable following Zane’s death concluded there was “no criminal case to answer” in December 2014.

Ms Lawler paid tribute to her “generous” and “kind” son, who she described as a “gift”.

She said: “He’d just passed his 7+ and he’d had a conditional offer from St George’s College. Zane was a gift.

“We brought him up so he understood that a gift was a gift that kept giving. He walked in truth and we’re here today to make sure he died in truth.

“We cherished every moment we were together. It was the best seven years of our lives.”

The inquest continues.