A little girl was close to death after being bitten by a poisonous snake bite at an idyllic North-East beauty spot.

Corinne Kerr's dad Billy didn't believe his eight-year-old had been bitten by a snake until she started to vomit and her foot swelled up.

Billy and wife Julie Kerr held a four-day vigil at her hospital bedside after she was treated for her adder bite.

Doctors at the hospital had never dealt with an adder bite and only knew what they were dealing with thanks to Corinne's calm description.

Corinne was on a family day out at the idyllic area of Sheepwash, near Osmotherley on the River Tees last Thursday when she stood on the adder. She had been playing barefoot in a stream.

Untroubled she strolled over to tell her dad that she had been bitten. But Mr Kerr did not believe her until she started to vomit and complain of dizziness.

Her toe and her foot rapidly began to swell.

Mr Kerr said: "She showed me her foot and the bite was about the size of a 2p piece with a drop of blood.

"To my shame, I said 'You've been bitten by something, but it won't be a snake.'

Within minutes she said she was feeling dizzy and started throwing up.

"She said, 'Daddy you have to take me to hospital,' then she started to lose consciousness."

The family raced off at high speed to their family doctor, Dr Si Chaudhry, at Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton-on-Tees. He gave her a shot of adrenaline and she was taken by ambulance to the University Hospital of North Tees in Stockton.

Dr Chaudhry said he had never treated a snake bite before in his 18 years as a GP.

He said: "I was very worried for her. She was becoming very ill very quickly. I really felt for her parents. Thank God they came here immediately instead of waiting and thank God Corinne was able to see the snake and describe it to us."

Consultant pediatrician Dr Bruce McLain treated Corinne at the hospital. He explained that snake venom can cause a systemic reaction in the body which can slow down the heartbeat and reduce blood pressure. However he said that apart from administering drugs like adrenaline and fluids medics simply had to wait for the poison to leave Corinne's system.

Mr Kerr, a chemical factory worker, said he and his wife Julie have cancelled a camping holiday with Corinne and their two other children.

He said: "Corinne's pulse was very faint when Dr Chaudhry administered the adrenaline. A doctor at the hospital said if he hadn't done that she might not have made it."

Read the full story in The Northern Echo on Wednesday.