by Katie Alston

A visit to the beach turned into a trip from hell after a six-year-old girl dug up a hypodermic needle, accidentally stabbing herself with it.

Samantha Chivers had taken her daughter Dulcie to the beach on Sunday, hoping to make the most of the summer weather.

But as the six-year-old, from Conyer, near Faversham and a pupil at Eastling Primary School, innocently played with pebbles at Seasalter beach, she uncovered the junkie paraphernalia.

“I was horrified when Duclie showed me what she had found,” said the distraught full-time mum-of-one.

“I asked if she had pierced herself with the syringe, and when she told me she had, while trying to straighten out the needle, my heart sank.”

Miss Chivers, 42, then put the needle into a suncream box, but it fell out pricking her too.

The next day she took her daughter straight to the GP, who sent her to A&E at the Kent and Canterbury hospital.

The pair were given injections and blood tests to determine whether they had contracted hepatitis and Miss Chivers was also checked for tetanus.

Doctors are testing the needle, but it will be three weeks before any results are back, and will take up to a year before the mother and daughter will get the all clear, and the series of injections are completed.

Miss Chivers, who lives at The Quay, said: “I am so angry that we have been put in this position.

"It is the not knowing that is killing me, my daughter doesn’t deserve to be in this situation.

“For the next 12 months we will have to endure an agonising wait."

Head of environment services at Canterbury City Council, Larissa Laing, said: “The council was saddened to hear of this incident.

“We understand it must have been very distressing and send our best wishes to Miss Chivers and her daughter.

“Reports of needles in public places are a priority for us, wherever they are found.

“Our first call about this was received on Tuesday morning and we immediately arranged for our contractor to go to Seasalter beach and search the area for any more needles.

“Seasalter beach is currently cleaned twice a week, which is a suitable frequency for what is classed as a rural beach."

Read more reaction in this week's Whitstable Gazette and Faversham News.