TWO people have been treated for methanol poisoning after drinking a cheap brand of vodka.

Food standards officers across the region are warning people to check any vodka they may have bought recently, after bottles of spirits have been discovered that contain enough methanol to potentially cause blindness.

On Friday, two people in Newcastle fell ill after drinking Original Vodka Russia, with the description Export Quality below the name on the label and Made in Belgium. The one litre bottle has the code LO958 on the back.

A subsequent investigation by officers from the city council's public health and environmental protection services resulted in them finding a bottle of the suspect vodka for sale at an off-licence in the East End of Newcastle.

Douglas Fox, from the council's food safety team, said: "This product was the subject of a Food Standards Agency food hazard warning on March 24 because of the presence of high levels of methanol contamination.

"It is now known that several other bottles have been found elsewhere on Tyneside and we would urge anyone who has a bottle of this vodka not to drink it, but to contact public health and environmental protection at the city council immediately."

Symptoms of methanol poisoning include abdominal pains, blurred vision and vomiting, which may not appear until several hours after consumption.