Teagan Appleby's medicinal cannabis to be returned

Emma Appleby with her daughter Teagan in the Netherlands

Medicinal cannabis that was confiscated from the mother of a girl with severe epilepsy is to be returned.

Emma Appleby was stopped at Southend Airport as she tried to bring a three-month supply of THC oil and cannabidiol (CBD) into the UK.

The drugs are now ready to be collected after nine-year-old Teagan was issued a prescription by specialist doctors.

The family travelled to the Netherlands after doctors in the UK refused to sign off Teagan's use of the drug.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock tweeted: "Happy to say that Teagan Appleby's cannabis-based medicine... is ready to be collected.

"We are working hard across government to ensure we get these medicines to those who need them."

Mrs Appleby, from Aylesham, Kent, said it was "really good news" and she would collect the drugs in London tomorrow.

She hopes it will give her daughter a "new lease of life".

Teagan has a rare chromosomal disorder called Isodicentric 15, as well as Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, which causes her to experience up to 300 seizures a day.

Doctors have been able to issue prescriptions for medicinal cannabis since 2018, but Teagan was not given one.

Mrs Appleby used money raised through crowdfunding to visit a pharmacy in The Hague, Netherlands.

She said that it was "wrong that it's taken me to do this to get it" and vowed to continue "fighting" for other parents whose children are awaiting prescriptions for medicinal cannabis.