A MUM told how her heart dropped when her 16-month-old daughter found a suspected ecstasy pill in a supermarket.

Jessica Curtis, 21, was shopping at Asda, in Basildon's Eastgate Shopping Centre, when her daughter Maddison Mullins ran up to her with a small yellow tablet emblazoned with black skull and cross bones.

The former De La Salle School pupil, of Sandringham Road, Laindon, believes Maddison could have died if she had swallowed the pill.

She said: "When she picks things up they usually go straight into her mouth, it looked like a sweet.

“If she took it she could have died.

“I was picking out burgers and she ran up to me showing it to me, saying ‘mum, mum, mum’.

“Time stood still.”

The tot found the pill on the floor, where sweets were scattered nearby, at about 7pm on Wednesday.

After handing it over to Miss Curtis and her partner, they identified it as a potential street drug laden with illegal stimulant MDMA.

Miss Curtis said: “I’m just so thankful she gave it to me.

“Usually when she finds things, like most kids they just go straight into her mouth.

“The family is so relieved nothing more happened.”

The couple promptly handed the pill to a staff member, who said he would dispatch of it, according to Miss Curtis.

Following the incident, the mother-of-one watches Maddison closer than ever before.

She said: “I usually let her have a bit of a run-around when we’re shopping, you’d never expect this to happen in a supermarket.

“I only took my eyes off her for two seconds while grabbing some burgers.
“People need to be extremely careful.”

An Eastgate Shopping Centre spokesman said: “On the basis of what we have heard, both the mother and the member of staff would seem to have handled the matter in an exemplary manner.

“We were not made aware of this and it would not normally concern Eastgate management if such an incident occurred within a store’s demise.”

Asda head office said the discovery had not been reported by staff at the Basildon store.

The Echo contacted the branch for comment.