A MOTHER was horrified after her two-year-old son was left covered in “bleach” after playing in a tunnel in a children’s playground.

Beth Harris, 23, and her sister, Charlotte Harris, 24, took their children, aged one and two, to Blenheim Park, in Leigh.

Braintree and Witham Times:

Stains - they were shocked when Beth’s toddler came out the other side of a climbing tunnel with reddish orange stains all over his blue tracksuit

Braintree and Witham Times:

They were shocked when Beth’s toddler came out the other side of a climbing tunnel with reddish orange stains all over his blue tracksuit.

Beth said: “I saw my son come out the other side of the tunnel and his clothes were stained red and his hands smelt of bleach.

“I ran back to the tunnel and saw a load of bleach inside.

“I was so scared I thought it was going to burn his skin, so I just ripped his trousers off while my sister ran into the café to get something to clean it off with.

“I only live around the corner so I got my son home straight away and gave him a bath.”

During the incident, there was a group of older children in the park who pointed out to Beth that there was an empty bottle of Cillit Bang nearby.

Beth added: “They looked sixth-form age as most other kids would have been in class at that time.

“I don’t know if they did it or if they saw or knew who did it, but they were in the park from the beginning so, if they knew about the bottle of Cillit Bang then they could have warned us.

“I’ve emailed all the nearby high schools and told them.”

Beth reported the incident to the police who told her to fill in an online report.

She has not had any response from Essex Police since reporting the incident.

Other parents also raided fears about the safety of the park following the incident.

Maria Sanderson, 30, whose three-year-old son goes to a nursery nearby and uses the park regularly, told the Echo: “I take my little boy to the park quite a lot after nursery.

“I took him with my friend yesterday and one of the mums there said not to use the tunnel because they had heard someone had poured bleach in it.

“I was thinking really? I went to have a look and it looked fine but it did smell like bleach.

“If it is deliberate then it’s absolutely disgusting.

“I don’t know why the hell anyone would want to do that to innocent children, it’s sick.”

Southend Council confirmed it had sent an officer down to the park to take a look, after speaking to the Echo.

Essex Police were contacted for comment.