POLICE in Worcester are warning the public to be alert following the loss of three separate lots of prescription drugs.

In all three cases police have emphasised that, if found, the drugs should not be taken by anyone other than the person they were intended for.

A spokesman appealed to the public to destroy or hand in any of the missing medicines and let the police know that they are no longer unaccounted for.

"Anyone finding the tablets is urged to take them to their nearest police station or chemist or destroy them and let the police know that they are no longer un-traced," they said. The first loss took place somewhere in the city centre some time before 1.25pm on Friday when a purse containing an unknown number of Trileptal Oxcarbazepine tablets went missing.

The prescription tablets are an anti-convulsant and mood-stabilizing drug, used primarily in the treatment of epilepsy and bipolar disorder.

The second happened some time before 11.14am on Saturday when a number of tablets were lost on a bus between Worcester city centre and Rushwick. The tablets included Amitriptyline, an anti-depressent, Hydro-chloride Atenolol, a beta-blocker, Simvador, used in connection with - or preventing - cholesterol, heart attacks and strokes, and Zopiclone, which counters insomnia.

Thirdly, an unknown number of Warfarin tablets - used in connection with blood clotting - and inhalers were lost in the city centre some time before 11.34am on Saturday.

Police can be contacted on 08457 444 888, quoting 338S/080607 for the first loss, 414S/090607 for the second or 428S/090607 for the third.