AT least 10 first schools have joined battle to produce the poster for the campaign to cut medicine waste.

Prescriptions worth £638,000 were returned unused to Wyre Forest pharmacies in 2002 - and health chiefs are urging patients to think before they order tablets, creams and liquids.

The stark message - which stresses the cash could pay for vital operations such 110 hip replacements - will coincide with Ask About Medicines Week from October 12-18.

And the campaign poster, to be displayed in doctors' surgeries, will be chosen from district first schools' entries. All designs will be exhibited at Bewdley, Stourport and Kidderminster libraries.

Meanwhile, drama students from King Charles I High School in Kidderminster have been busy rehearsing scenes for a video which will also be distributed to surgeries to reinforce the message.

Everyday during Ask About Medicines Week there will be a stand in the Swan Centre, Kidderminster, to provide information and advice for patients to understand their drug regimes so they order only what they need.

The drama group will perform their scenes at the Swan Centre on Thursday.