Buy this photo
Concern - PC Danny Harris shows what the canister looks like. Picture: NIGEL BROWN (58660-2)
Children are getting their kicks by inhaling a dangerous gas.
Youngsters in Brightlingsea have been taking nitrous oxide, a dental anaesthetic known as laughing gas.
"Hippy crack," one of its other names, starves the brain of oxygen and produces an intense high.
Health experts have warned abuse can severely damage health or be fatal.
Police in Brightlingsea have been handed dozens of small silver canisters, just 2ins in length, which contained the gas.
They can be bought legally to make whipping cream or fill balloons, but youngsters in the town have been inhaling the contents.
Town council ground staff have regularly found canisters at Promenade Way and Millennium Garden.
- More in today's Gazette
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article