A PILOT scheme to give fluoridated milk to selected Darlington infants could be under way shortly.

The scheme, being looked at for an infants' school in one of the town's most deprived areas, would probably see the creation of a milk bar using milk with added fluoride.

Believed to reduce tooth decay in children's teeth, the move to add fluoride to milk is in direct response to a shock report on the state of child dental decay in Darlington.

With child tooth decay figures higher than the national average in nine of the town's most deprived areas, health and education chiefs claim they are anxious to tackle the problem at an early age.

Coun Heather Scott, a member of Darlington Council social affairs and health scrutiny committee, and also a member of the committee's working group on fluoridation, told members on Monday: "We are hoping to be able to set up a pilot project to introduce fluoridation of milk in schools.

"One school is looking to open a milk bar and this may be where we could set up the project.

"The director of education has agreed to support this and we will now consult the school's governors and parents."

The working group has been pulling the idea together for the past five months and will meet again on January 28 to finalise details.

Coun Scott told the D&S Times: "This will only go ahead if the school, its governors and its parents are happy to go along with this.

"Sure Start is on board and doing a lot of work with parents of children aged up to four. We hope to continue this work into nurseries and primary schools.

"A lot of children don't drink milk, which is why we are seeing an alarming rise in dental decay. Schools are introducing water into tuck shops instead of fizzy drinks."

However, fluoridation comes with warnings. It is claimed to be more toxic than lead, and in 1994 the World Health Organisation warned that "dental and public health administrators should be aware of the total fluoride exposure in the population before introducing any additional fluoride programme for caries prevention".

Across Europe, Holland has banned water fluoridation, Germany, Denmark and Sweden have stopped it, while Portugal, Greece, Belgium and Austria ended fluoridation experiments long ago.

France, Italy and Norway rejected its introduction immediately