People are tricking kids into watching "distorted and warped" versions of Peppa Pig cartoons on YouTube

A fake version of Peppa Pig where the cartoon character gets ill and dies is one of thousands of online videos that are tricking children into watching disturbing content.

In the two-minute clip the kids’ favourite is injected by a dentist and passes away, while crying can be heard in the background.

But there are hundreds more like it, according to the BBC, which investigated the trend after the daughter of journalist Laura June accidentally watched a violent video.

Among other similar videos are those using images from the likes of Disney movie Frozen and Thomas the Tank Engine.

Although many appear to be aimed at adult audiences, the parodies are likely watched by children searching for their favourite characters.

One channel “Toys and Funny Kids Surprise Eggs” is one of the top 100 most watched YouTube accounts in the world.

Its videos have more than 5 billion views.

Searches for “Peppa Pig dies” or “Elsa dies” bring up thousands of results, with the characters killed off in various brutal ways.

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While filters restricting adult content will block some of the videos, many appear to get through — particularly those that disguise the disturbing content.

“Peppa does a lot of screaming and crying and the dentist is just a bit sadistic and it’s just way, way off what a three-year-old should watch,” Laura June told the BBC.

“But the animation is like close enough to looking like Peppa — it’s crude but it’s close enough that my daughter was like ‘This is Peppa Pig.'”

An NSPCC spokesperson said: “It is disturbing to see that distorted and warped versions of children’s favourite cartoons are easily available to view on YouTube, especially when we know this type of content can upset and harm young people. If such material were shown on TV or in a cinema there would be standards and age ratings in place to help guide parents and children. Such standards are not in place online, which is wrong and needs to change.

“The NSPCC wants to see online protections that are equal to offline protections for children, with a statutory code of practice which sets out the minimum child safeguarding standards that all social networks and internet service providers must adhere to.”

Yahoo! News has contacted YouTube for comment.