Youth pushed into fire

A LEWES teenager was left with first degree burns after he was pushed into a fire during a fracas at Saturday s Robertsbridge Bonfire.

Sixteen-year-old Simon Harris, of Blois Road, a member of Waterloo Bonfire Society, was rushed to the Conquest Hospital, Hastings, in excruciating pain after he was pushed into a roadside blaze outside The George pub at around 10pm.

He said had been talking to a friend from another society at the time and was standing near the fire to keep warm.

And he added: 'I was shoved and I fell directly into the flames. It was quite a small blaze but it took hold of my trouser leg and all of a sudden I was on fire. It was petrifying.

Simon, who attends Ringmer Community College and is due to take exams in a fortnight, managed to pat the flames out with his hands before collapsing in agony in the street.

'It was all a bit of a blur because I was in so much pain and there were so many people around, he added, 'but I remember being in the ambulance and realising that my jeans had been melted on to my right leg by the fire.

'I knew then I was in serious trouble. It was burned from the knee right down to the ankle. Simon, who was dressed as a smuggler at the time, was taken home from the Conquest early the next morning by Waterloo chairman David Quinn who said on Wednesday that the matter was being investigated by bonfire members.

'It was a sad injury to receive and we are looking into the circumstances, he added.

Police this week said any witnesses to the attack should contact Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111.

Simon on Sunday morning was taken to the specialist burns unit in East Grinstead. He is on crutches and may need a skin graft.

His father Grenadine Harris said he was livid when he heard what had happened. He wanted the offender prosecuted.

Robertsbridge Bonfire Society spokesman Kate Noble said the incident marred an otherwise very successful night. 'While we take every precaution possible to ensure public safety and extinguish all the discarded torches, if people take it upon themselves to light their own fires after the main display there s very little we can do about it, she added.