A BROMYARD police officer has urged drinkers to avoid a craze he says is getting dangerously out of hand.

Police in the town received reports of a number of teenagers taking part in the NekNominate game that has spread across Facebook.

The stunt originally involved one person nominated to down an alcoholic drink while being filmed.

However, the craze has developed, with people drinking a dangerous mix of spirits, while some have even been filmed consuming washing-up liquid.

The stunts are then uploaded to the internet prompting a fresh wave of ‘nominations’.

The request from Bromyard police officer John Meek that people do not “give in to peer pressure”

comes a week after two Irish men died performing the stunt.

He said: “We had a couple of reports on the weekend of some younger children daring each other to drink and then do something stupid.

The whole NekNominate craze is definitely getting out of hand as we can see following the deaths, and younger children are starting to gravitate towards it.

“We just want children and parents to be aware – we don’t want a tragedy because of this craze here in Bromyard.”

Jonathan Lester, chairman of governors for the Queen Elizabeth Humanities College in Bromyard, said a text message has been sent to parents making them aware of the phenomenon and its dangers, although no incidents have taken place at the school.

However, Facebook videos seen by the Hereford Times show the craze is breaking out across Herefordshire.

And Ally Morgan, from Leominster, has defended the practice.

She drank a concoction of crushed banana, milk and alcohol when taking part but said she did not feel under any pressure to do it.

The 20-year-old added: “Like any social media craze I think there’s always going to be some people, maybe overcome by competitiveness, that take it that bit too far.

“ I think if it was kept to sensible mixes of drinks and not doing life-threatening stunts, then it could be continued to be seen as harmless fun.

“Everyone who takes part drinks alcohol normally, and the majority would drink a lot more than a pint during a night out.

“I don’t think it’s as much the volume of alcohol that’s the issue but the way it is mixed.

“I didn’t feel pressurised in any way to accept the nomination.

“Everyone has their own minds and the right to say no and there is no obligation to accept the challenge.”

Danni Mee, also from near Leominster, said she thinks people have taken it to “dangerous”

extremes by putting hand wash and washing powder in drinks.

The 20-year-old student admitted: “It has got a bit out of hand, but because it’s just a passing craze I think it’ll die down soon enough.”

Cathy Anstey, a spokesman for West Mercia Police, said: “Police officers regularly see and deal with the consequences of people’s actions after they have been drinking.

“Many times it ends in regret and sometimes in tragedy.

“People’s awareness and physical reactions can be affected by drinking, so we would urge people to drink responsibly and think very carefully about the actions they take after drinking.”