A mum is warning other parents after her child’s Halloween costume caught light while she was out trick or treating.

Stacey Greenwood, from Cliffe, took her four-year-old daughter Sienna-Rose and son Harvey, seven, to knock on doors in the village of Higham with their friends and other parents.

Sienna-Rose was wearing a zombie bride outfit bought from Wilko’s with a pair of leggings underneath.

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After calling at a few doors, the group were at a house near the railway station where there was a pumpkin on the doorstep with a candle inside. One mum started shouting “one of the costumes is on fire”.

The homeowner managed to pat Sienna-Rose down and put out the flames. Thankfully, the little girl was unhurt.

But Mrs Greenwood has been left wondering how much worse it could have been.

She said: “The dress just went up in flames. The gentleman at the door was able to pat her down and the other children were doing it too. Sienna-Rose was just shell-shocked I think.

"She knows from Paw Patrol that she should drop and roll but she said to me afterwards, that she couldn’t drop and roll because there was no room.

“Sienna-Rose doesn’t really understand how bad it could have been but Harvey is older so he is more aware. He woke up this morning and said to me, ‘Mummy, Sienna-Rose could have died. We are trying not to think about the what ifs too much.”

The fire burnt three large holes in the polyester dress but the leggings - which were not part of the outfit did not catch fire.

Mrs Greenwood added: “At first we thought the bottom of the dress had dangled next in the pumpkin but it is the middle of the dress which caught alight.

“You don’t expect this to happen, especially in this day and age, when the costume has a label on it saying it has undergone extra fire checks.”

Mrs Greenwood has contacted Wilko’s but has not yet received a reply.

In a statement, a Wilko spokesman told KentOnline: "We are shocked to hear about this incident. As a family business, nothing matters to us more than our customers’ safety and that of their young families.

"All our costumes comply with relevant legal and regulatory requirements. Additionally, for this year’s Halloween, we independently tested all of our own label Halloween costumes under more rigorous conditions than are currently legally required by testing to the voluntary BRC Code of Practice.

"In line with other retailers, we also placed warnings on products, packaging, point-of-sale material and online advising that costumes could still ignite and therefore must be kept away from naked flames and advised that a constant watch be kept on Halloween activities to avoid close proximity to naked flames.

"We have also introduced LED tea lights which can safely replace naked flames in traditional candle tealights. We will liaise with the customer to determine exactly what happened” said the spokesperson."