POLICE are warning children to stop playing a potentially life-threatening endurance game.

Death Zone, the latest 'craze' game being played by teenagers, involves participants placing pressure on someone's chest until they pass out.

Several children have already been hurt as a result of the game. One 11-year-old sustained serious head injuries as he fell to the floor.

Now police are warning youngsters to stop playing the game before someone dies.

Sgt Graham Harrison, of Leyland Police, said: "We are aware of this game and it is worrying to know that children, particularly young teenagers, are playing this game.

"There are obviously some very serious implications to playing this because it can result in very serious injuries.

"I would urge all parents to warn their children about the game and ask for teenager to avoid playing it for their own sakes."

Headteachers in schools have also been told to alert their pupils to the danger game.

The craze, also known as Deathy and The Buzz, was first introduced to impressionable youngsters after it featured in the 1990 film Flatliners, starring Julia Roberts and Keifer Sutherland.

It is often played in isolated areas, such as building sites and in parks, leading to risks that children could be injured.

The game is a big hit on Wade Hall, Leyland. One teenager said: "You start seeing things and imagining you are elsewhere. We have nothing else to do."

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