A DOZEN youngsters aged from three to 15 are in hospital after playing with a toxic chemical they found in a Burnley back yard.

Parents of the children in the Duke Bar area are demanding an inquiry into how barrels of the white powder came to be in an outside toilet of an empty house in Cleaver Street.

A label on the plastic containers warned of possible irreversible damage to the nervous system and major organs including heart and lungs.

A major chemical alert plan was put into action when the youngsters began to return home on Saturday lunchtime with the powder in their hair and on their faces and hands.

They had been throwing the substance in a game which led to twelve of them being ferried to hospital in three ambulances.

Firefighters arrived to find the white powder in the back yard and along 100 metres of back street.

The area was cordoned off and the situation was upgraded to Operation Merlin level, part of the emergency services' major incident plan. A doctor from the Medalert team attended along with senior officers from the emergency services.

The Environment Agency, environmental health and North West Water were also involved.

Because of the numbers of children and parents needing to go to hospital a day care ambulance was sent to help those already at the scene.

The children found the one kilogram drums of anhydrous caffeine in the old toilet and had apparently been playing with it for two or three days.

Emergency services had to seek advice from a national poisons register about the powder.

Anhydrous means that water has been extracted and caffeine is the stimulant found in coffee.

They were told the caffeine was relatively safe provided it was not swallowed but that its effects could take some time to show.

The decision was made at Burnley General Hospital that the children should be detained for 24 hours for observation.

None of them were showing any signs of illness.

Personnel director Mike Bates said: "We were able to deal with the situation.

"There were 13-14 beds available on each of the children's wards."

Fire crews were first at the scene and were straight away approached by worried parents.

Station Officer Steve Cope said: "There were four or five white one kilogram plastic containers marked caffeine and highly toxic.

"The children had been playing with it for a couple of days and had been throwing it at each other. It looks like flour and they had been having a great time with it.'' He added: "I don't know what the substance is used for or just how dangerous it is. It was marked only for laboratory use."

Worried parents are asking how the substance came to be left in an unlocked back yard toilet of an empty house.

Colette Lawless of Bar Street said: "It should not have been there. The children found it and kids being kids they played with it."

Her son Adam, five, is one of those taken to hospital along with Reece Renton, six, who is also staying at her home with his mum Lydia.

They were being looked after by neighbour Angela Taylor who said: "They thought it was just cement or plaster.

"It was in their hair so I showered them and their clothes before they went off to hospital.''

Colette said: "Angela called me at work and I came rushing home. It is a big worry wondering what could happen. Adam was complaining of being sick last night and today was scratching a red mark on the side of his head."

Also taken to hospital was Emily Rogers, five, who lives next door.

Her dad Peter said: "She came home covered in white powder. We washed her down and the next minute the fire engines and ambulances were here and she was taken to hospital."

Lisa Pole, seven, and her three-year-old brother, Thomas, also went to hospital.

Lisa had been playing out but Thomas was with his dad, Brian, coming home from a shop when he kicked at the white powder on the floor.

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