A teenage model-making enthusiast lost three fingers in an explosion after an experiment went disastrously wrong.

The college student suffered serious burns in the wake of the blast, which happened as he built a propulsion unit for his model boat in his bedroom at his parents' home in Darlington.

He was creating the device using a carbon dioxide canister and was filling a container with sulphur recovered from match heads when the explosion occurred late on Wednesday night.

The boy, who has not been named but is understood to be a student at Darlington College of Technology, was rushed to the town's Memorial Hospital.

He was later transferred to the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough, where he underwent emergency surgery for injuries and extensive burns to his hand.

He has lost three fingers from his left hand in the incident, which a Durham police spokesman described as "a crude experiment" that went wrong. His parents, who live in the west end of Darlington, were understood to be by his side in hospital yesterday.