By Duncan Bick and Jenny Barwise

Last updated at 11:36, Tuesday, 10 July 2012

A six-year-old girl was taken to hospital after she set fire to her hair playing with a lighter in her Whitehaven home.

The fire service said she had been playing with the lighter at her house on Buttermere Avenue in Woodhouse, when the curtains were set ablaze shortly after 4pm yesterday.

The child tried to put the flames out herself but her hair caught fire. Her mother and older sister used their hands to put out the hair fire, suffering burns as a result.

The six-year-old suffered burns to her neck.

All three went taken to West Cumberland Hospital. The older sister made her own way there while the youngster and her mother were taken by ambulance.

A neighbour said today that she heard a scream and at first thought a child had been hit by a car.

When she looked out, she saw the girl standing in the driveway outside her home with her mother patting her back. Her hair was singed, she said.

The woman said the family – the mother, father and two daughters – had been staying with other family members overnight.

All of the blinds in the house were closed today. A child’s scooter was left standing in the driveway.

Firefighters in Whitehaven received the emergency call at 4.14pm and two engines were sent to the scene. They put out the main fire using breathing apparatus.

First published at 11:31, Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Published by http://www.newsandstar.co.uk