Pupils hospitalised after copying Waterloo Road

Six teenagers were rushed to hospital after copying Wednesday night's episode of Waterloo Road.

The five girls and one boy, aged 14 and 15, from a school in Aldridge, West Midlands reportedly brewed up a deadly booze cocktail of ethanol after watching the programme.

Three ambulances were sent to the school at 2pm on Thursday - less than 24 hours after the episode aired - and the pupils were admitted to hospital suffering from ethanol poisoning.

They later confessed they'd picked up the idea from Waterloo Road.

In the episode, Danielle Harker, played by Lucy Dixon, becomes seriously ill after drinking a similar chemical concoction.

Before the programme aired, Lucy Dixon (pictured) told What's on TV: "It really shows the bad part of drinking. My aim was not to make it look like she was having fun - I wanted to show the danger of drinking an excessive amount of alcohol.

"She has a really terrible time. Danielle learns the hard way and I hope people learn from it. I don't want anyone who watches it to go through what my character goes through."

The medical director of West Midlands Ambulance Service, Dr Roger Cooke, reminded would-be bootleggers: "Ethanol is alcohol in it purest form - it is exceptionally strong and dangerous to consume and is very different to alcohol sold in licensed premises.

"Even a small amount of ethanol has the potential to kill because of its potency."

The pupils are currently recovering from the incident.

For Lucy's full interview about the episode click here.