Hundreds of children a year are being hospitalised in Britain after swallowing magnets in a horrifying new trend leaving victims scarred for life, a new study reveals.
Doctors and safety campaigners say youngsters are being put at risk by popular toys and called for a new crackdown on the online sale of products containing magnets.
About 300 under-16s were admitted to A&E in a single year after ingesting the tiny metal items found in items such as 'fidget toys' - with one in ten needing life-saving operations.
Today's new report by experts at the University of Southampton is the first UK study to investigate how many children have swallowed magnets.
Warnings about the risks have been backed by the mother of a girl who was left fighting for her life as a two-year-old after ingesting 14 brightly coloured magnetic balls.
