HUNDREDS of families were warned about a bogus drug being handed out to children after a blunder by a policeman.

Pupils and parents at 80 schools in West Oxfordshire were warned of the possible dangers of a fake drug called Strawberry Meth on Tuesday.

The alert came after a police officer unwittingly sent an email via a special system connecting police and schools - without checking it with colleagues.

The drug, also known as Strawberry Quick, had apparently been given to children in sweet form by strangers outside school gates, leading to two victims being hospitalised - but there had been no such incident.

Schools were worried by the threat because of recent media attention focused on the drug Crystal Meth, which can result in psychiatric problems for users.

Last night, West Oxfordshire's most senior police officer apologised about the mistake.

Chief Insp Dennis Evernden said: "The officer should have double checked before taking this action, which he did take with the best intentions.

We will be making sure this sort of thing does not happen again."

Among the schools affected were Edith Moorhouse Primary School, in Carterton, which sent out 270 letters to parents warning of the drug, before issuing a retraction.

Nobody at the school was available to comment yesterday.

On Monday, more than 350 Year Seven and Eight pupils were called in to assembly at Wood Green School, in Witney, to receive an urgent notice.

Year Eight pupil Freddie Peppiatt, 13, said: "Our head of year was talking about how strangers had been giving out sweets in the style of the ones that crackle in your mouth that have been laced with drugs.

"He said it was crystal meth. He was saying how there had been two incidents of children who have had to go to the John Radcliffe immediately because they had taken them without knowing what they are."

Freddie's mother Françoise said: "I'm not surprised at all. I had a sense it was urban-mythish.

"Perhaps the police should check their facts. However, they had the best intentions. There is still a valuable lesson to children about not accepting sweets."

John Cooper, the school's deputy head, said teachers would inform pupils about the mistake yesterday, but would reinforce the messages about taking things from strangers.

The myth of Strawberry Meth is believed to have originated in America and has been circulating on the Internet in the UK for months.

In November, drugs charity DrugScope issued a press release warning of the hoax and police officers in Lincolnshire alerted people to the scam in the same month.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said the officer would not be disciplined over the incident, but said internal processes would be reviewed.

CRYSTAL METH

DRUGS charity DrugScope said it believed the Strawberry Meth hoax may have been revived in recent weeks because of a flurry of media coverage over the drug crystal meth.

It said crystal meth - chemical name methamphetamine - is known by the street terms yaba, zip, chalk, crank, tina, and ice.

The charity said its euphoric effects last for four to 12 hours and are similar, but longer lasting, to those experienced while taking cocaine.

The drug can be snorted, smoked, injected or consumed orally and users can suffer nausea, panic attacks, compulsory repetitive behaviour and jaw clenching. Regular users face possible psychiatric problems and tooth loss and decay called "meth mouth".

A spokesman for the charity said the drug was still rare in the UK.