Boy, 3, faces lifelong Bart Simpson scar after suffering reaction to henna tattoo

A boy of three is facing a lifetime with a Bart Simpson-shaped scar on his forearm after suffering a reaction to a 'temporary' tattoo he had done at a Spanish street stall.

Vinnie England was holidaying in Benidorm with his family when he got the two-and-a-half inch image of the spiky-haired cartoon character on his right arm at a henna tattoo shack.

But days after returning home, Vinnie complained that his arm was hurting and the temporary image soon began to redden and blister.

Marked for life? Vinnie shows off the marks left by his tattoo. His mother Hayley, right, fears the scars will be permanent

His mother Hayley Shipway, 24, who lives with Vinnie and his four-week-old sister Ruby, said a red ring appeared around the Bart outline.

She took him to the doctors who gave him a steroid cream.

'The next morning it had got much worse so I took him back to the doctors and as soon as I lifted up his sleeve and showed the nurse her face just dropped,' she told the Bristol Evening Post.

'It was inflamed and sore, and looked like the Bart Simpson had been scratched into his skin with a pin.'

Mrs Shipway, from Southmead, Bristol, who has let Vinnie have stick-on tattoos before, said he now keeps asking her to take the scar off.

An excited Vinnie sits for a family holiday snap while the artist applies the 'temporary' tattoo

She added: 'We have been told that the scarring in the shape of Bart Simpson may be permanent because he had such a bad reaction.

'I just feel so guilty. People have said it's not our fault, but we let him have it done.'

A genuine henna tattoo should fade within 10 days and the ink is usually a red-brown colour.

But the ink used on Vinnie's skin was black, suggesting it contained a hair dye chemical called paraphenylenediamine or PPD.

PPD is often mixed with the henna by tattoo artists abroad because it is cheap.

A high concentration of PPD is used which can cause dermatitis when in contact with the skin.