Two students were nearly killed after they were given enough caffeine for 300 cups of coffee during a botched science experiment.

Northumbria University has been fined £400,000 for the incident in March 2015 which caused Alex Rossetto and Luke Parkin to be rushed to hospital and put on dialysis.

On Wednesday a judge said the two sports science students probably only survived because they were fit and and active young men.

The pair had volunteered to take part in a test aiming to measure the effect of caffeine on exercise, but a basic calculation error meant the second-year students were given 100 times the correct dosage.

Prosecutor Adam Farrer told Newcastle Crown Court that the pair should have been given 0.3g of caffeine in the orange juice mix, but were in fact given 30g.

There is 0.1g in the average cup of coffee.

Newcastle Crown Court heard the calculation had been done on a mobile phone, the decimal point being put in the wrong place and there being no risk assessment for the test.

Mr Farrer said death has previously been reported after consumption of just 18g and the students were left in a "life-threatening condition".

The university, which has more than 30,000 students and a budget of almost £250 million, had switched from using caffeine tablets to powder, which, he said, meant supervision was vital.