Campers have been warned of the dangers of carbon monoxide after a family of five had to be taken to hospital.

The family had taken their barbecue, on which they were cooking breakfast, into their tent on a site just north of Camelford yesterday after it started to rain.

But after a relatively short time, two of the occupants became unwell, prompting a 999 call to the ambulance service.

Paramedics asked firefighters from Delabole Community Fire Station to help, and they administered oxygen to two casualties with symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning and made the tent safe.

The family were then taken to hospital to be checked.

A spokesman from Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service said: ’Be aware of the dangers of taking a barbecue into a confined space, such as a tent, for cooking or as a heater. Carbon monoxide levels can build up quickly to lethal levels.’