An eight-year-old girl is critically ill in hospital after allegedly being poisoned with excessive doses of salt.

Police believe she may be the victim of a woman who is suffering from the attention-seeking condition Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy.

Lothian and Borders Police say detectives will be interviewing members of the girls family as well as medical staff and social workers.

It is understood that the girl was taken to hospital numerous times and had attended her GP on dozens of occasions.

She was admitted to the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Edinburgh last week.

Police have not released the identity of the girl, who is understood to be from the Broomhouse area of Edinburgh.

A spokeswoman for Edinburgh City Council confirmed that the girl and her family were known to their social work department and that it was co-operating with the police investigation.

Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy, a psychological disorder which leads to child abuse, was first identified by the paediatrician Sir Roy Meadow in 1977 and was named after a German aristocrat renowed for his deception.

Falsely reported

He described it as a form of child abuse in which mothers deliberately induced or falsely reported illnesses in their children in order to draw attention to themselves.

But some parents say it is a medical invention and has been used to take children into care without firm evidence of abuse.

Last year the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health recommended to its council that guidance should be issued to members on how to deal with people who are suspected of suffering from the condition.