A HEROIN addict’s toddler almost died after drinking the methadone it found in her handbag, an independent report has found.

A serious case review report published today recommended health, social and police workers take more steps to help the children of drug users.

But the report, from Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children’s Board, said the accident was not preventable.

The report said the mother of the unnamed toddler - known as Child N - delayed calling an ambulance for about 90 minutes after the incident in Didcot in September last year.

It said the child stopped breathing in the ambulance and needed resuscitating but later made a full recovery in hospital.

The mother, who has also not been named, was jailed for three months at Oxford Crown Court in June after admitting child neglect.

The report said attempts were made to provide support to the mum and her child but they were turned down or appointments missed.

It also said the mother had another child taken into care when it was aged five months. The child had been born addicted to heroin and its mother had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to supply class A drugs while heavily pregnant.

Maggie Blyth, independent chairwoman of the Oxfordshire Safeguarding Children Board, said: “This was a case that could have had a tragic outcome but fortunately the life of Child H was saved by hospital doctors and the ambulance service.

“It is clear from the serious case review that the mother put her own drug dependency before the needs of her baby, and this meant that Child H grew up in a chaotic household which had a real impact on the child’s development and life chances.

“However the reality is that it is not practical to remove every child growing up in a home with a parent or carer who is dependent on drugs.

“This case raises important questions about the extent to which drug dependency in itself should be seen as a major risk to children, and how those risks should be managed.”