Southampton mum Leesa Betteridge, whose 13-year-old son Matthew was badly burned at a barbecue, is joining the call for people to behave responsibly while enjoying a World Cup barbecue.

As reported in the Daily Echo, young Matthew was a guest at a barbecue in Southampton's Priory Road when a 30-year-old man sprinkled petrol on the charcoal.

The wind fanned the flames back turning the man into a human fireball, and Matthew, a 13-year-old boy and a 6-year-old boy were also burned in the blaze.

Matthew has made a miraculous recovery from his injuries and is back at school, but Leesa, of Wakefield Road, said she was counting her blessings that he was not more seriously hurt.

"It makes you think, what if? What if Matthew had been standing closer to the barbecue and caught up in the fire?" she said.

The 13-year-old boy and 6-year-old, who are brothers, are both recovering at a specialist burns unit in Essex.

The 13-year-old is thought to have had a skin graft but is said to be almost unrecognisable from his burns, and his younger brother, who received burns to the legs and torso, is being helped to walk again.

A spokesman for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service said: "Petrol accelerates the flames. If people are close by then it is quite likely the flames will blow out and get to them. If we had to give one tip it would be to never use petrol."