Child taken ill on `poisoned' village green

A 10-year-old boy was in hospital yesterday after playing on a village green, believed to have been contaminated with poison, which has already claimed the lives of three family pets.

Police believe someone who hates dogs is responsible and have warned parents to keep their children away from the green, in Thornaby, Cleveland. Warnings were also issued in schools throughout the area. Vets were examining the carcasses of two of the dogs at Ministry of Agriculture laboratories in Thirsk, North Yorkshire