Eighteen-month-old Luke Thompson was given a 1.5ml prescription by his doctor for Ciprofloxacin anti-biotic after developing a painful ear infection.

But when the tot's mum, Vicky Thompson-Chambers, inspected the medication, which she had collected from Boots Pharmacy in the Queensgate Centre, in Peterborough, she noticed the label said to give him 10 times the dose he was supposed to be on.

The 31-year-old from Ellindon, Bretton, Peterborough, immediately contacted her GP, who confirmed that because of his weight and age, Luke was only allowed to take 1.5mls twice a day, and not the 5ml three times a day, which the pharmacist had prescribed.

Mrs Thompson-Chambers said: "I am glad that we did check as we were only supposed to be giving our son a tenth of the medication that had been prescribed.

"We spoke to the pharmacy and were told a mistake had been made inputting the measurement.

"Although it is an easy mistake to make, had I not been so careful about what we gave our son this could have led to my son having a massive overdose."

Although the incident happened back in January, Mrs Thompson-Chambers, who recently read in The Evening Telegraph that a two-year-old boy had been given out-of-date medicine, wanted to warn other parents of the kinds of mistakes that can slip through the system.

She said: "I'm a bit of a savvy mum and, thankfully, I listened to the doctor. Next time it might be more serious. It is important that parents check their children's and their own medication and listen to what your doctor tells you."

A spokeswoman from Boots said their customer care department did not receive Mrs Thompson-Chambers letter but the pharmacy manager had since spoken to the parents to resolve the matter.

She said: "As a responsible retailer and pharmacy we take the dispensing of medicines very seriously. Boots has a number of procedures and safety checks in place to ensure that all medicines are dispensed correctly. At the time of the complaint in January we reviewed our dispensing procedures in the store involved."

A pharmacist from Alfa Chemist in Staniland Way, Werrington, Peterborough, said although Luke may have suffered some side effects, he would never have been in any real danger.

She said: "Had the parents not noticed, the child may have experienced some diarrhoea but it is likely the parents would have picked up on that and sought advice from a pharmacist and then realised the medication was wrong in the first place."