A horrified mum fears her child was spiked with “chemical-laced” sweets while out trick-or-treating.

Liz Adnitt’s little girl suffered a burning mouth and diarrhoea after eating a Maoam she picked up while taking part in the Halloween tradition near their home in Ramsgate last night.

The mother-of-two alerted the police after a Kinder bar from the same stash tasted as if it had been soaked in washing powder.

Police are now investigating the potential spiking.

Ms Adnitt said: “We were walking down the street and all of a sudden my eldest daughter started complaining about a Maoam sweet tasting disgusting.

“Within about 20 minutes she was hunched over in pain and said she couldn't walk.

“She was really scared and kept saying she was going to have diarrhoea.”

The cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) therapist rushed her four- and 11-year-old girls home, where her eldest - who has asked not to be named - suffered significant stomach problems.

She required Wednesday off school.

Ms Adnitt did not originally think the sweet and her daughter’s illness were related. However, after eating an item from the collection this morning she alerted police.

“I bit into a Kinder bar and got this awful taste in my mouth. It tasted like it had been soaked in washing powder,” she added.

“It was only in my mouth for a couple of seconds and my lips, throat and tongue all started to burn.

“When I told my daughter what it tasted like she confirmed, that's exactly what the Maoam tasted like last night.

“My mouth is still burning six hours later.”

Once she realised the sweets had potentially been contaminated Ms Adnitt called 101 to report her discovery.

She said officers arrived at her Church Hill home within five minutes and took away the Maoam sweets and Kinder bars for testing.

“The officers told me they are treating the case as a potential spiking,” she added.

“I bagged up the sweets and handed them over.

“But they did say it would be very tricky to investigate without knowing what house the sweets came from.

“I don't want to give a feeling of hysteria, but I think it's important people are aware of what could be going on in our neighbourhood.

“Most of the sweets were absolutely fine, so it's very worrying that these sweets tasted like this.

“Thankfully Alyssia, my youngest daughter, didn’t consume any of the dodgy sweets.”

The 42-year-old says they visited about 50 houses whilst trick-or-treating last night so has “no idea where the sweets came from”.

She told KentOnline the experience has put them off going out next Halloween.

She added: “I try to see the best in people and hope that this was an accident.

“But it does make me feel sick that someone could tamper with sweets and give them to a child.

“It has changed my outlook on trick-or-treating. In the future, I would only take them to friends' houses.

“It's such a shame because my kids love Halloween.”

Describing the way the sweets had been wrapped, she said: "When I went to open the Kinder bar this morning I did notice it looked a bit battered and old.

“But I could not really tell if it had been tampered with.

"I did not get a look at the Maoam wrapper as my daughter opened that while were were out trick or treating."

A police spokesman said: “Officers attended an address in Ramsgate on Wednesday morning following a report of a child becoming ill after consuming sweets given to them while they were trick-or-treating.

“No evidence of any criminal offences has so far been established and enquiries are ongoing.”