FIREFIGHTERS have carried out demonstrations to highlight the danger of homemade Christmas costumes, after a schoolgirl was left with severe burns.

The head girl at St Bernard's High School, in Westcliff, suffered 40 per cent burns to her neck and arms when her cotton wool cloud costume caught alight in front of a crowd of friends.

The 17-year-old girl, named by pupils as Gemma, struck a match to light candles on a birthday cake at the school, when the DIY outfit engulfed her in a ball of fire.

Following the freak accident on Friday, the school allowed firefighters to take away some of the costume and her packet of the cotton wool for testing.

Assistant divisional officer Martyn Hodder said the tests showed how dangerous cotton wool could be if not used properly.

The first test was conducted on a dummy covered in cotton wool alone, which quickly caught alight.

But the second test, conducted on the costume itself, showed how sticky tape makes the fire burn much more fiercely.

It took just two seconds to spread from the feet to the head of the dummy.

Mr Hodder said: "The addition of the sticky tape, to hold the costume in place on her body, made for a very quick burning fire, which engulfed the whole of her body very quickly."

He also warned parents not to use cotton wool as fake snow on window sills or for beards in Christmas nativities, as it was extremely flammable.

Mr Hodder praised Gemma's bravery and quick thinking.

She had completed a Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award and remembered her training under pressure.

He said: "She fell immediately to the floor and tried to roll around on the carpet and extinguish it herself.

"She put out 99 per cent of the fire herself and showed great courage.

"She is a very brave young lady and made her way to the nearby toilet block and soaked her injuries in water.

"She has done very very well and I can't praise her enough."

Fire crews from Blue Watch then wrapped her in clingfilm, before she was taken by ambulance to Broomfield Hospital, in Chelmsford, where she was treated in a specialist burns unit.

Carl Robinson, from Southend Trading Standards, said although costumes from fancy dress shops had to comply with safety regulations, homemade costumes did not, and could prove extremely combustible.