A mother was left disgusted after her two-year-old son found a spliff from the floor at a children’s playground.

Little Archie Hodge was enjoying a morning out on the swings and slides at Victoria Park, in Ballards Lane, Finchley, when he found a used cigarette which had been filled with cannabis.

His mother, Leonie Hodge, immediately grabbed it from his hand before he could come to any harm – but she has been left too scared to take him back to the area.

The 31-year-old said: “I dread to think what would have happened if I’d turned my back for a split second and he’d put it into his mouth.

“Of course it wasn’t lit but the people who hang around parks smoking spliffs might be doing other drugs and they could carry diseases.”

Archie had been playing a game with a friend and found the stub underneath a piece of bark.

She threw it away and is now calling on the area to be cleaned up.

She added: “It makes me disgusted – it’s a nice area and people pay a lot of council tax to live here but it’s just become a dumping ground.

“The whole area needs to be cleaned up.”

In a statement, Barnet council said: “Our parks and green spaces are places that every resident should be able to enjoy and feel safe in. We do not tolerate anti-social behaviour and have reported this incident to our Safer Community Team. Victoria Park is cleaned regularly, with litter and bins cleared daily from the play area.”