Three young brothers were left blistered and burned after touching a common plant while playing in their garden.

The parents of two-year-old twins Adam and George Newitt and older brother Luke, five, have released a series of shocking images in the hope of warning others of the dangers of potentially hazardous plants.

Karl and Helen Newitt had no idea that the common rue - a herb found in many gardens in the UK and Europe - posed a risk until their sons started to come out in blotches.

At first, there was no sign that anything was wrong, as Luke, Adam and George played in the garden of their family home in Poffley End, north of Witney.

But the following day, all three woke up with red marks on their skin and, later that night, Adam became violently sick.

Mrs Newitt said: "Blisters started appearing on his hands and they were literally growing before our eyes. They started coming up around his mouth and a few on his legs, but it was mainly his hands.

"They just ballooned, getting bigger and bigger. I had never seen anything like it before and it was very scary. He was screaming in pain and vomiting.

"At this point, we had no idea what was wrong with him, and no idea that George and Luke had also been affected."

Adam was rushed to the John Radcliffe Hospital, in Oxford, and Mrs Newitt said doctors were at first baffled as to what had caused his illness. But she thought back to the previous day, and remembered the boys playing near the herb. As she was sitting with Adam at the hospital, she received a text message from her husband saying blisters were also starting to appear on Luke's and George's arms.

Adam was transferred for specialist treatment at the Radcliffe Infirmary's plastic surgery unit, in Oxford, where he spent four days. He was sedated and the blisters were removed.

Luckily, George and Luke were not so badly affected and did not need to stay in hospital after treatment.

Now, almost three weeks later, the boys' wounds are healing well - although Adam's hands may now be more susceptible to sunburn.

Plastic surgery registrar Titus Adams, who treated Adam at the RI, said neither he nor his colleagues had seen anything like it before.

He is now using the experience and details of treatment given to Adam to write a medical case report for circulation to other doctors and has backed the Newitts' warning to people to be aware of the effects the plant can have.

Mr Adams said it was possible the plant was particularly potent, because it was in flower, and that it was likely Adam suffered worse problems than his brothers because he was in contact with the plant for longer.

Adam suffered superficial chemical burns, which Mr Adams said had healed well. Although he could not be certain, he expected the little boy to make a full recovery.

He said: "I have warned Adam's parents that his fingers may remain a bit pink for a while, and they could be a little more susceptible to sunlight come next spring, but there shouldn't be any long-term problems."

The Newitts, who moved into their home and instantly fell in love with their large garden and its plants three years ago, have dug up the common rue and sent pictures of it and their sons' injuries to family and friends to warn them about the danger it poses.

Mrs Newitt, who also has a nine-month-old son, Oliver, said: "We obviously knew about things like hogweed and poison ivy posing a danger, but had never heard of this before and we want to warn other parents.

"It's shocking that a common plant like this can cause such damage and we don't want another family to go through this."