Warning after tablet explodes in seven-year-old boy's hands

A family have spoken of their shock after a tablet exploded into three pieces in the hands of their seven-year-old son.

Alfie Mitchell was playing on the Proscan 7-inch 4GB Dual Core tablet at home when the battery in the device "exploded like an airbag".

Despite suffering no injuries, Alfie's mother Shara said he was too frightened to go to sleep after the incident.

She is now urging other parents to make sure their children are safe when playing on electronic devices.

"It was awful. It's lucky he wasn't badly injured or burned," she said. "Alfie was very shocked - we all were. You don't expect things like that to just blow up without warning.

"I wouldn't have been as bothered if it had been me holding it.

"It took me ages to get him to sleep that night. We have another tablet and he wouldn't go near it for days."

The tablet cost £39.99 and was bought only 18 months ago at Toys R Us in Deepdale Retail Park in Preston, Lancashire.

The family complained to Toys R Us, who responded with an apology and offered to exchange the tablet for an upgraded model.

A seven-year-old in Pittsburgh in the United States reportedly suffered a hand injury in a similar incident in 2014, with his parents describing the explosion as "like a gunshot going off".