A mother has issued a stark warning after her 11-year-old daughter came across what is thought to be a drug user's discarded needle in a Weymouth playpark.

Having been pricked by the needle, the girl's family took her to hospital as a precaution - and she is having the necessary vaccinations.

The needle wasn't recovered from the park at Littlemoor so the family can't be sure whether it had been used for injecting drugs.

The mother, who wishes to remain anonymous, said she had been at the park off Louviers Road with her husband, son and 11-year-old daughter when the girl told her she had found the needle.

The girl had by this point thrown the needle away, and despite scouring the grass, her mother couldn't find it – but she suspected it had been used for injecting drugs.

"Why else would there be a needle in the park?" she asked. "No one goes there to sew."

Her daughter had been wearing flip-flops, the mother said, and the needle had 'jumped up' into one of the shoes – leading her parents to fear that she may have been pricked.

As a precaution, the couple phoned 999, and the next morning took their daughter to Dorset County Hospital for an initial Hepatitis B vaccination, with further injections against the disease to follow.

Dorset Echo:

The play park in Littlemoor 

"There's only a 1-in-200 chance of her catching it," the girl's mother said. "But you can't be too careful."

She added: "I want people to be aware. "If they go to the park in Littlemoor, they need to watch out."

Borough councillor Ann Weaving, who represents Littlemoor, said she was 'shocked and horrified' by the news.

"I've heard of this happening in town, but this is the first time I've heard of it in Littlemoor," Cllr Weaving said. "I'm very concerned – especially now with the summer holidays."

She argued that not enough was being done to combat drug-dealing and using in the area. "There are several places in Littlemoor that are known for dealing drugs," she said. "But nothing seems to get actioned."

Cllr Weaving urged parents to make sure their children know not to pick up objects from the ground, and to notify an adult if they do see something unusual.

Community concerns have been expressed about needles being discarded in public areas in Weymouth including in toilets, on the pavement and on the beach.

Last June, a family suffered a similarly traumatic incident when their son pricked himself on a syringe on Weymouth beach.

Harry Warren, then aged five, was building a sandcastle on the beach when the discarded syringe pricked his middle finger, drawing blood and leading to a gut-wrenching day at hospital for Harry and his family.

Follow-up injections and blood tests were carried out over the following months to ensure the boy had not contracted any diseases - happily, in June of this year, Harry was given the all-clear after a final appointment.