A Sidmouth toddler gave his parents a fright - after he swallowed a penny.

Sidmouth Herald: William Bosence.William Bosence. (Image: Archant)

William Bosence was playing with a 1pence piece and popped it in his mouth before his mum, Amanda, or dad, Moray, could do anything to stop him.

The panicked couple rushed the two-and-a-half-year-old to the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, where he was given an X-ray.

Doctors said there was nothing to worry about as the penny had, fortunately, gone through to his stomach - and all they would have to do was wait for nature to take its course.

Moray said: “My first feeling was panic. One minute he was playing with it, the next we knew he had swallowed it. I picked him up, turned him over and patted him on the back, but nothing came out so we rushed him to the hospital.

“I just wanted to make sure it had gone through to his stomach and had not become lodged anywhere - luckily it hadn’t.”

William swallowed the coin last Tuesday morning, October 4. After speaking to the Herald this week, his family said the penny was yet to reappear.