Matthew was playing with a lighter when his hair caught fire

Matthew Moore, 15, of Purbeck, Dorset, had just applied the lotion when he started playing with a cigarette lighter, which ignited his hair.

Matthew and his mother, Lesley, blame the Hedrin lotion but its manufacturers insist it is not flammable and failed to ignite in their laboratory tests.

Matthew is recovering in the burns unit at Salisbury District Hospital.

The product is not flammable

Hedrin lotion manufacturers

The teenager, who suffered severe burns to his face, ears, neck and arms in the incident on 10 April, said: "The gas must have found a reason to burn and it jumped and it must have caught my hair.

"I tried to put my fringe out but it went all over my hands and set my hands alight."

His mother called for the product to be recalled and for warnings to be added to the labelling.

In a statement, manufacturers of the lotion Thornton & Ross said: "It's the very first incident of its kind.

"The product is not flammable. It's been fully approved by various regulatory authorities."

The company added that nobody should ever put a naked flame close to their hair.

A spokesman for Dorset Fire and Rescue Service added: "Don't play with lighters close to your hair and that goes generally when you have applied any type of hair product."