THIS is the moment when a video stunt went horrifically wrong -- and a ten-year-old boy was engulfed in flames.

The prank, filmed by a group of youngsters in Anchor Avenue, Darwen, left schoolboy Joe Armstrong with serious burns to his chest and thighs.

Police and fire bosses have condemned the boys' actions, which they said were carried out in the style of stunts featured in the TV show Jackass.

And today his mother said the incident should act as a warning to other children not to play with fire.

Police said Joe, of Tunnel Street, suffered the horrific injuries when his clothes were set ablaze after petrol was thrown onto a fire the boys had been jumping over.

The Tockholes Primary School pupil was taken to Booth Hall children's hospital, Manchester, where he underwent three hours of surgery to clean the burns of petrol.

He is currently under sedation and is expected to remain in hospital for up to a month while the deep burns to 15 per cent of his body heal.

Joe's mother Allison Hughes, 41, said: "I think the show is disgusting and think it should be banned on television no matter what time it comes on. Just look what has happened to Joe, it is horrendous. I have seen it the odd time and thought how stupid it is. If kids see these things and think they can get away without getting hurt it is ridiculous.

"Joe would not talk about it at first because he was too traumatised. He has burns to his chest and deep burns to his legs. The burns are bad because they are petrol flame burns which are the worst you can get.

"He looks absolutely awful and they are having to change his dressings every four hours to prevent infection. When he was admitted he had 18 football sized blisters on his body. He will be scarred for life. Luckily there are no burns on his face, arms or lower legs."

Jackass, the notorious MTV show which was broadcast late night on Channel 4 until recently, showed its stars taking part in dangerous stunts including shooting themselves with stun guns and skateboarding into rivers.

Inspector Stuart Bruce, of Blackburn Police, said: "At the end of the TV programme Jackass it says don't try these stunts at home and don't send in videos because we won't even open them.

"Unfortunately though there are Internet sites which people send their videos into. They do the most stupid stunts and video it. These lads have admitted that this was a deliberate stunt that backfired. It was reported to us that a youth was on fire and had petrol thrown on him. It turned out that he and his mates had been jumping over the fire a few times and then the last time they threw petrol on him.

"During the Easter holidays the rate of juvenile nuisance and stupid activities from unsupervised children has predictably escalated.

"This is yet one more example of unsupervised young people doing the most ridiculous things. The question to parents is 'where are your kids?'

"This saga will be reported during the May holidays and into summer."

John Taylor, press officer for Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, said: "We are aware that fire has that fascination for kids and they start fires and it is not always malicious. They are often just interested in seeing what will happen.

"What has happened in this instance illustrates that fire is a very dangerous plaything. We would advise parents to look out for the signs that their child might have an interest in fire."

"Parents need to ensure that their children don't have matches and lighters. If there are smokers in the house there is even more reason to hide them away."

Nobody from Channel 4 or MTV was available to comment.