AN anxious mother has warned other parents to be careful on the beach after her three-year-old daughter stepped on a needle and syringe at Bournemouth beach on Wednesday.

The mum, who has asked not to be named, now faces a worrying four-week wait until she knows for certain if her daughter is clear of Hepatitis B.

The youngster was playing with other children on Bournemouth beach outside of Harry Ramsden’s around 11.30am when the young mum noticed the syringe and needle near to where they were sitting.

After the syringe was taken to the nearby beach office the woman and her husband checked her daughter’s feet for puncture marks.

“As soon as I saw the mark on her foot we took her to hospital where they gave her lots of jabs and tests. But we still have to wait four weeks before we know that she is totally fine”, the Bournemouth mum said.

“I just want other parents to be ultra careful. I always check the sand for glass and anything else but you can never see everything.

“I don’t know how this can be allowed to happen.

“It does put you off taking your children to the beach. I just don’t want to go through this again.”

Alan Brown, seafront operations manager said: “We can confirm an incident occurred on the beach in which a child reportedly stepped on a syringe.

“The child was taken to hospital by their parents as a precaution and a member of the public brought a needle into the beach office where it was put into a sharps box for disposal.

“Needles on the beach are thankfully a rare occurrence.

“If a member of the public sees a syringe they should alert a member of the seafront team or lifeguard immediately so that arrangements can be made for safe disposal of the item.”