MORE than 200 youngsters aged under 16 have been admitted to Warrington Hospital in the last three years after overdosing on drugs.

A Warrington Guardian freedom of information request uncovered the figures which found 79 children aged three and under were taken to the Lovely Lane hospital with drug poisoning in the last three years.

Teenagers aged 13 to 15 accounted for half of hospital attendances with 117 being admitted after overdosing.

The shocking figures, which were revealed after 16-year-old St Gregory’s High pupil Ellie Jones died after taking a powerful form of ecstasy, have also found the number of under 16-year-olds being admitted has steadily risen in the last three years from 63 cases in 2009/10 up to 89 cases in 2011/12.

Janet Hickling from charity Footsteps said experimentation with drugs often starts aged 13 to 15.

The mum, who started the Warrington-based charity after her 17-year-old son told her he was using heroin, added: “We all know drugs are readily available and young people take risks to feel part of a crowd.

“It’s so important that parents get the right information.

“Most mums and dads don’t know anything about drugs and don’t know how to open a conversation with young people about them.

“You can’t stop them but what we can do is help them to make informed choices.”

Doctors have said cases of overdose in under 10-years-old are likely to be an accident and paracetamol and ibuprofen were generally the most common overdoses.

A spokesman for Warrington Hospital said: “We see many types of overdoses coming in to our A&E department and these can range from the accidental, where parents give the wrong dosage of medication to their child to intentional, where children have taken drugs that have been prescribed for other family members.

“We would advise parents and family members to keep their medications out of reach of children.

“Another type that we see among teenagers is the ‘legal highs’ drugs that have been bought off the internet.

“What can help us in these cases is bringing the packaging with them, it will help us deliver treatment quicker if we know what we are dealing with.”

DRUGS and alcohol charity Footsteps has said parents should look out for changes in their child’s behaviour, changing their friends or asking for money.

Chief executive Janet Hickling added: “It’s hard as in teenage years behaviour changes anyway but drugs exaggerate that behaviour.

“It’s important for society to get a grip of this and be informed but often families never think it will happen to them.

“If you’re concerned about what you’re seeing, pick the phone up and talk to us.”