A CANVEY cabbie who was badly burnt when a gas cylinder exploded has told of his horrifying ordeal.

David Hodges, 40, was left with second-degree burns from the knuckle of his right hand to the elbow, as well as superficial burns to his face and chest, when a small canister exploded as he attempted to fix it to a torch attachment.

Mr Hodges had been testing the lamp in the front room of his Southfalls Road home ahead of a camping trip to Wales. He had pierced the seal of a 180-gram can of butane and propane, but felt moisture on his hand and heard gas escaping.

He said: “I don’t know why it went wrong. Perhaps I was screwing it in at the wrong angle?”

The gas caught fire from a candle about five feet away, showering the room in bright orange flames. He said: “It was like the whole room was on fire.”

When Mr Hodges drop-ped the burning canister, the pressure sent it flying across the room. His daughter Amy, ten, hit her head on a table as she leapt for cover.

His wife Tracy, 39, was treated for shock by paramedics.

Mr Hodges said: “I didn’t notice the pain to start with because I was so shocked and my first thought was to put the fire out as quickly as possible.

“When it was out I just lost it completely. I ended up lying in my front garden shaking, which is where the fire crew found me.”

He was rushed to Southend Hospital and may be left with permanent scars to his hand and arm.

He said: “I couldn’t bear it if my wife and daughter had been burnt too.”

Mr Hodges said he had received many messages of support following the accident, as well as some accusing him of acting irresponsibly. He said: “There are probably some health and safety types who would say I shouldn’t have tried to do it near a candle, but it was more than five feet away.

“I thought it was perfectly safe.”