Toddler's first steps as petition is launched (From The Northern Echo)

Toddler's first steps as petition is launched

10:45am Wednesday 11th April 2007 in Protect Our Children

A TODDLER who was badly hurt when his pyjamas caught fire walked for the first time yesterday since his accident.

His first steps were made as The Northern Echo launched a campaign to change the law and make all children's nightwear flame resistant.

Today, we are launching an online petition, which will be sent to Downing Street.

Two-year-old Daniel Mitchard-Harrison suffered terrible burns and will be scarred for life after his pyjama shorts caught fire at his home in Dalton, near Thirsk, North Yorkshire.

He has been in the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle, for the past month where he has had a blood transfusion and a number of skin grafts.

He could be in hospital until the end of the month.

Because of a quirk in the law, children's pyjamas do not need to be flame resistant, but nightdresses and dressing gowns do.

After Daniel's accident, his grandfather, Andrew Mitchard, conducted an experiment to see how quickly the same brand of pyjama shorts caught fire. It took less than a minute for the shorts to turn into ash and disintegrate.

The Northern Echo filmed this experiment and the video can be viewed on our website, www.thenorthernecho.co.uk

The newspaper's Protect Our Children campaign is calling for all children's nightwear to meet the stringent requirement of nightdresses, as they do in the US.

Last night, Mr Mitchard said: "I was horrified at how quickly they burned and I would urge all parents to have a look.

"Parents may well be shocked. And if they are, I would urge them to sign the petition and hopefully we can get something done about this law so what happened to Daniel does not happen again."

Last night, several people had already signed the petition.

Daniel's father, Michael Harrison, said he could not believe that pyjamas that burst into flames were sold in British shops.

Yesterday, after Daniel's story appeared in The Northern Echo, the campaign was shown on regional television.

As reported in yesterday's Northern Echo, station manager Carl Boasman, of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, conducted his own test on flammable pyjamas at a fire centre in Easingwold.

He said: "I am a parent myself and I was alarmed and surprised by how quickly the clothing ignited.

"Parents need to be aware that if their child is wearing nightwear they are at risk of the clothing catching fire if it goes against a heat source."

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents was already calling for nightwear safety regulations to be re-examined before Daniel's accident.