A TEENAGER suffered horrific facial injuries when a 25-litre drum exploded in his face when he put a match to it.

Matthew Laycock, 14, is now in intensive care at Pendlebury Children's Hospital, Manchester, where doctors are waiting to see if his eyesight will be affected.

Matthew, of Oxford Road, Nelson, was playing with friends on the driveway of a car body repair shop in Lonsdale Street when they recovered the drum from a skip.

A police spokesman said it still had some kind of inflammable liquid inside and that when Matthew dropped a match into it, it blew up.

Both ends of the drum blew off with one of them hitting Matthew in the face.

He was taken to Burnley General Hospital and then transferred to Pendlebury. He injuries are described as serious but not life-threatening.

Stepdad Kenneth Thomas said: "He was stable this morning. He has suffered some nasty injuries to his face.

"His eyes are bleeding and are swollen up like two tennis balls. Until the swelling goes down they cannot tell whether his eyesight will be affected."

He added: "They are keeping him under sedation and have put a tube in to help him breath.

His mum, Paula Duxbury, was at the hospital with him.

Matthew has a sister Laura, nine, and brother, Kevin, eight.

The accident happened in the yard of Lonsdale Accident Repair Centre in Lonsdale Street.

Owner Adrian Ashworth, said the empty drum had contained thinners and had been taken out of an enclosed skip.

He said: "The skip has been set on fire previously and I was advised by the fire service not to lock it as they then could not put out a fire."

Mr Ashworth said: "Everything which can be done as far as safety is concerned is done.

"We have registered carriers for the skips and everything is properly documented.

"We had a spot check by the environmental health people recently and we got a glowing report as far as health and safety and disposal arrangements are concerned."

Fire and rescue service officers were asked to check the skip for other potentially dangers but found nothing.

Police were today continuing inquiries into the incident.

Insp Stuart Harman said Matthew who attends Walton High School, Nelson, was playing with two or three friends when the accident happened.

Police were today trying to trace the other youngsters who were with Matthew at the time.

Insp Harman said: "We want to establish exactly what happened and we will be looking at issues about exactly what was in the skip.

"At the moment we don't know what the drum contained.

"Our inquiries into that and other issues are continuing."

The emergency services were called to the scene by a member of the public who at first thought the boy had fallen from the roof of the building.

The Health and Safety Executive will also be informed.