A three-month-old baby was administered massive overdose of penicillin by her mother consequent on a bungling by a pharmacist at a supermarket chain in UK. The girl has since recovered, but she has to be monitored for long-term liver and kidney damage.

Kirsty Hensby of Devon, South West England, picked up a prescription from the supermarket after her three-month-old daughter Summer developed a rash.

The 22-year-old veterinary nurse, whose fiance Simon is a lorry driver, was given a prescription for 3ml of penicillin three times a day.

However the worker at the in-store pharmacy at her local Tesco labelled the bottle with a dose of 5ml.

After Miss Hensby began administering the drug, Summer was repeatedly sick. The worried mother called NHS Direct, where a doctor told her that she should continue giving her daughter the antibiotics.

When she went back to her GP four days later, Miss Hensby realised she had been giving Summer the wrong dose.

'The doctor had written three spoons of 3ml penicillin three times a day yet I had been giving Summer 5ml, 66 per cent more than a baby is supposed to have.

'The doctor said that a child had to be at least six years old to be given a 5ml dose and that giving that to a baby was a terrible risk.'

Miss Hensby immediately rang the pharmacy. 'The assistant said "Oh my God" and admitted straight away that they had made the mistake.'