Four children have been taken to hospital after suffering a “violent reaction” from eating sweets believed to contain cannabis, police have said.

Officers were called to a parade of shops on Pound Lane, Epsom, at 2.15pm on Saturday, and found three children vomiting uncontrollably and falling in and out of consciousness.

The 12-year-old girl, 12-year-old boy and a boy aged 13 were taken to hospital by ambulance.

Another 12-year-old boy, who is also believed to have eaten the sweets, was taken to hospital by his family as a precaution.

All four children will remain in hospital overnight for observation.

It is believed the sweets may have been given to the children at the nearby Court Recreation Ground.

Surrey Police said it does not have a “clear description of the sweets involved”.

However, it said it received a similar report on Friday evening involving “jelly apple rings which appear as green jelly circles”.

The force added: “The individual in that incident was thankfully less affected.”

Detective Sergeant Lee Marks said officers are “trying to understand what these sweets are, where they came from and what they contain”.

But he said the immediate priority is to warn parents, urging them to “tell children in the area not to be tempted to try them as they are obviously causing substantial harm”.