Children in Southampton were rushed to hospital after taking a paracetamol overdose to see who could stay in hospital the longest.

Donna Jones, Hampshire's police and crime commissioner, said the "incredibly worrying" incident happened over the weekend.

Speaking on the Radio 4 Today programme she said social media influencers were setting challenges for each other and the wider public.

READ MORE: Westquay: Southampton police investigate teenagers rampaging

She added: "What's happened in Southampton over the weekend is that young people aged 15-17 decided to challenge each other to take a paracetamol overdose to see who could get hospitalised and who could get hospitalised the longest, with the person remaining in hospital for the most hours being the winner.

"It's incredibly worrying, it's putting young people's lives in danger.

"This is taking up much-needed ambulance time, police time. We can't afford this to happen and parents need to get involved."

She told the Mail Online: "We’ve had a load of kids in Southampton take paracetamol over the weekend following a TikTok challenge to see who can get hospitalised and stay in there the longest.

"Parents need to get a grip of what their children are doing.

"It’s not for the police to instil a sense of what is right and wrong, it is for the parents. It’s not down to the police to prevent these things happening. Parents have a responsibility to sit down and speak to these kids about what is going on TikTok, how these things are not fun, people will die, it is not sensible to do this and don’t feel the peer pressure that you have to."