A six-year-old girls is thought to be one of the youngest in the UK to be rushed to hospital after drinking 'dangerous levels' of alcohol.
She was one of 198 youths under 17 treated in hospitals in East Sussex in the past five years for drink or drug abuse, according to Freedom of Information figures.
The child was admitted to Eastbourne District General Hospital some time last year.
It is not known how she got hold of the alcohol or what she drank. But health and welfare officers said they were investigating whether the girl was in need of intervention by social services.
The revelations come less than a month after neighbouring Brighton and Hove Council told how its staff found a nine-year-old boy who was already an alcoholic living with his mother and three siblings in Hove.
'It is very worrying and alarming that children as young as six and nine have drunk this much alcohol,' said Alcohol Concern chief executive Don Shenker.
'In terms of the six-year-old being admitted to hospital it should ring alarm bells to parents.'
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