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Dozens of teenagers have become hooked on a powerful animal sedative nicknamed "rhino-tranq" that has swept across parts of Britain.

Addiction specialists have been alarmed by the speed of the spread of the veterinary tranquilliser also being exploited by predators as a date-rape drug.

The substance, medetomidine - which has been given the street name "rhino tranq" - was designed to sedate animals before surgery.

Yet in recent months it has appeared in Britain's illegal drugs market, frequently mixed with ketamine or other substances to create an unpredictable and potentially dangerous cocktail.

It has already devastated parts of the US and experts say many users in this county have been taking it without knowing how addictive and harmful it is.

The drug has caused teenagers to jump out of windows and break bones or to run across busy roads.

Steve Pope, an addiction specialist working with young drug users in Lancashire, says the speed with which the drug has emerged in the UK has shocked even experienced professionals.

It has also been found in north-east England, Essex and Scotland.

Mr Pope says: "Some guys are using it as a date-rape drug. It's so strong people black out completely and lose their memory, and they wake up not knowing what's happened to them.

"It's heartbreaking when you're working with a 14-year-old girl who slowly realises she's been through all forms of sexual abuse while she was out of it.

"And then she turns back to the drug because she can't cope with the trauma and guilt. These girls are paying the bill for someone else's wrongdoing."

He added: "I've got a teenage daughter and it's frightening. These girls are not mature enough to deal with what's happening to them."

After first being found mixed with heroin seized by police in Essex last year it was linked to two near-fatal overdoses in the North East in January.

At the same time it has spread through Lancashire. Mr Pope said. "At the end of last year we saw a couple of cases in Preston, and before Christmas we only had two people in treatment for it.

"Since then we've got more than 30 - and many of them are aged between 14 and 18."

He added it had spread to nearby towns including Blackpool and South Shore, raising fears the trend could soon expand further across the country.

Mr Pope said: "This area has some of the highest drug use in the UK and historically it's been a kind of test paper for what the rest of the country will see next.

"We saw ketamine become a major problem here before it spread nationally, and now we're seeing exactly the same pattern with medetomidine."

In just a few months 15 people have been hospitalised after taking it and frontline workers fear a fatality is only a matter of time.

Medetomidine belongs to a group of powerful veterinary sedatives increasingly being detected in the global illicit drug supply.

It is estimated to be between 100 and 300 times more potent than xylazine, the "zombie drug", meaning extremely small quantities can produce powerful effects that are difficult for users to predict.

Mr Pope said: "We've had kids jumping out of windows, running down dual carriageways and even throwing themselves into the sea.

"They're so out of it they don't know where they are."

A 16-year-old girl from Lancashire, who did not want to be named, took the drug thinking it was ketamine and jumped from a second-floor window, leaving her with two broken arms and a fractured ankle.

"I've got zero memory of what happened," she said.