A FOUR-YEAR-OLD girl is recovering after she took an accidental overdose of anti-depressants she had found in a sweet tin.

The girl and her 18-month-old brother had been playing in the living room of their home, in the Firthmoor area of Darlington, when they found the tin behind a chair.

The girl had already swallowed seven of the pills when she was discovered by her parents at about 4pm on Saturday.

She was taken to Darlington Memorial Hospital and put on a ventilator to help her breathe, before she was transferred to Newcastle General Hospital.

Yesterday, she was discharged from intensive care into a children's ward where she was said to be recovering with no permanent damage.

Darlington police and social services have been informed and inquires are ongoing.

Acting Inspector Steve Steen, said: "We need to speak to the parents in relation to the inappropriate location of the medicine.

"Medication should not be left lying around and in inappropriate containers.

"Even if you put medicine on a high shelf, sometimes children climb up to try and get it and fall off the side, we would ask people to make sure these things are locked away.

"This could have been more serious."