©PA
Bindeez had been tipped as one of the must-have toys this Christmas

A popular toy has been withdrawn from shops because of fears it may contain a potentially lethal hallucinogenic drug.

Bindeez, which allows young children to make animals and other shapes from beads, were predicted to be a popular present this Christmas.

Retailers, including Woolworths and Argos, withdrew the sets after Moose Entertainment, an Australian company that designed the product, admitted that a "small number" of children in Australia needed treatment after swallowing the beads.

The beads, which are made in China, are supposed to be coated with a harmless glue to allow them to stick together.

Health authorities in New South Wales found they were covered in a chemical which, if swallowed, changes into a compound similar to GHB, a "date rape" drug. The reaction can cause seizures and unconsciousness.

A boy aged two and a 10-year-old girl were admitted to a hospital in Sydney last week after swallowing the beads. A boy aged 19 months was treated in hospital in Queensland yesterday after eating some of the beads.

Richard King, the chairman of Character, which distributes Bindeez in Britain, said: "We've asked all our customers to take them off the shelf while we retest everything to make sure the toys comply with all regulations."

Moose said it had discovered that some Bindeez in Australia contained ingredients "that did not match laboratory-approved" products.

The Toy Retailers Association named Bindeez as one of their top toys for Christmas. Gary Grant, its chairman, said: "They have been selling very well in recent weeks."

It is understood that about £10 million worth of sets were due to be sold this year.

Character said it would take about four days to retest the products and no retailer could sell them until it received the results from the laboratory. The retailers said it was "far too early" to talk about a product recall, which could see hundreds of thousands of the toys being returned.