A YORK school has warned parents that students have taken part in a dangerous 'Blackout Challenge' which it says is circulating on social media.

The vice-principal (welfare) of Manor CE Academy, Louise Scaum, emailed parents to warn them of the trend and ask them to highlight the dangers to their children.

She said: "In this, students are purposefully attempting to make themselves faint by holding their nose/breath until they pass out.

"We have unfortunately had a couple of attempts at this in school this week and therefore hope that by making parents/carers aware, you can be given the opportunity to highlight the dangers of this .... and prevent this from further occurring."

She asked parents with any queries to contact their child’s Head of Year.

One parent told The Press: "This is really scary. People need to know what's going on, so they can do something to prevent it happening."

Given opportunity by The Press to comment further, Miss Scaum said the safety and wellbeing of the schools’ pupils was her utmost priority.

“Having discovered this dangerous 'Blackout Challenge' is circulating on social media again, we wanted to make parents and carers aware,” she said.

“We have spoken to all pupils in school to warn them of the dangers and as ever, we also rely on the support of families in matters such as this.

“We have therefore asked them to also speak to their children to highlight the risks of attempting such challenges.”