E-cigarette battery blast leaves mother with burnt scalp

Hannah Clarke's hair and scalp were scorched by the explosion of battery acid and burning plastic

A woman has suffered burns to her head after the batteries for her e-cigarette exploded in her car.

Hannah Clarke, 25, from Essex, was being driven from Buckhurst Hill to Debden at 07:00 BST on Saturday when her handbag exploded.

Her partner, Richard Jolley, 27, stopped and they both jumped out of the vehicle.

He pulled the bag out of the car, burning his fingers in the process.

"It was not very hot that early in the morning driving along and suddenly it exploded sending flames, battery acid, smoke and burning plastic all over my head," Ms Clarke said.

"I was just glad my boy was not with us. He usually sits in the back.

"Our seats took some of the explosion but if he'd been there he would have been burnt."

Ms Clarke's partner burned his fingers throwing the flaming bag of batteries out of their car

"We went to the vape shop and saw on the computer we had bought the batteries last October with a three-month warranty," Ms Clarke said.

"But they should have last more than seven months. It's early days but I have put a complaint in to Samsung."

The batteries had been in a container away from the e-cigarette.

Mr Jolley grabbed the burning bag because he was concerned it could set fire to the petrol tank and destroy the car, which had already suffered damage to the seats.

The BBC has contacted Samsung for comment.