A mum says she's been left horrified after her little boy accidentally consumed alcohol after they were served a double vodka cocktail at a Bracknell pub. 

The six-year-old schoolboy was taken to hospital after drinking 50ml of Smirnoff at the Harvester Horse and Groom on Bagshot Road on Wednesday, August 15.

Donna Barrett, her husband and their son were out for a family meal when the incident happened last week.

Mrs Barrett said: "My son’s father arrived around 15 minutes before us so he went in and reserved a table for 2 adults and 1 child. He was shown to a table and ordered a shandy for himself and a peach juice for our son.”

"After 10 minutes, the waitress came to say that no peach juice was available but they had an alternative of passion fruit juice which was sufficient. Myself and my son arrived where the drinks were on the table with his father and I ordered a raspberry lemonade with our choice of food."

A spokesman for the pub confirmed this to the News but claims there was a misunderstanding regarding the peach drink - which comes in both alcoholic and non-alcoholic versions. 

The pub spokesman said they offered an alternative option of Passionfruit Sunrise - a vodka based cocktail - was recommended.

Mrs Barrett said the waitress came over after realising what had happened and said their child's drink had alcohol in it.

She said: "As we waited for our food the waitress came over and stated the drink my son had consumed had alcohol in it. I was absolutely shocked and asked if the waitress was joking.

"She replied she was not joking and stated it had 50ml of vodka mixed with the juice."

Mrs Barrett raised the alarm with the manager but claims her concerns were 'brushed off' and she felt their dismissed their responsibility. .

She added: “When we confronted the manager, he proceeded to say that’s what we ordered. My son’s father clarified we ordered peach juice which they didn’t have so they suggested an alternative of passionfruit juice!

"He wasn’t at all bothered and so casual which was extremely concerning and made me very upset and angry as you can imagine!"

A short time after leaving the restaurant, Mrs Barrett's son started to experience chest and abdominal pains shortly after leaving the restaurant.

She spoke about the terrifying ordeal, stating: "My son started experiencing chest pains and abdominal pains so we dialled 111 who referred us directly to Frimley Park Hospital where we spent the majority of the evening.

"I rang the Harvester to find out how much alcohol was in the drink as the hospital needed to know exactly and it was 50ml of Smirnoff Red Vodka."

While her son has been discharged and is seen to be recovering well, Mrs Barrett noted that "it took him quite a few days to start eating normally."

A spokesman for the pub said: "A member of our team later noticed the drink on the child's side of the table and challenged the adults, reminding them of our Challenge 21 policy and reminding them that the drink contained alcohol. After a brief discussion, the family left the premises.”

The Horse and Groom added: "It is regrettable that the child consumed any of the drink and it appears there was misunderstanding as to the contents of the drink. It is not clear whether the adults realised the drink contained alcohol but both sampled the drink before passing it to the child.”

Donna has expressed her ongoing concern that this could have happened before, or could happen again, to other unsuspecting families. 

A spokesperson for Horse and Groom, said: "We are committed to operating responsibly, safely and within the law. We support the prime objectives of the Licensing Act (2003 England and Wales) and the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005.

"We operate a Challenge 21 policy which means if a guest appears to be under 21 (or under 25 in Scotland) then we require proof that they are over 18, before alcohol will be sold.

"As a matter of good practice, we do not serve alcohol to anyone under the age of 18, even though there are circumstances in the law which allow this. This is in order to ensure that we are doing all we can to prevent underage drinking and uphold our licensing responsibilities. 

"As part of our responsible retailing stance, we also do not allow the sale of alcohol-free beer/ lagers or ciders to people under the age of 18.

"This is primarily because these drinks are alcohol-free versions of an alcoholic product and look, and taste very similar to alcohol, therefore differing from a traditional soft drink."

The pub spokesman said they had checked in to see on the welfare of the child, adding: "We are a responsible retailer and we take such incidents extremely seriously. The team at the Horse and Groom will also be undergoing full licensing refresher training."