A MOTHER and daughter are being treated in hospital after a food heater exploded at their Tenerife hotel.

Former University of Bolton student, Kirsteen Hughes, aged 37, and her eight-year-old daughter Robyn Anne, were badly burned in the explosion at the four-star Bahia Principe Hotel in Costa Adeje.

Mrs Hughes suffered injuries to her face and scalp in the blast at 4pm on Friday. She is in a serious but stable condition in intensive care in hospital.

Robyn Anne suffered moderate burns to her neck and ear.

Mrs Hughes’ husband, Stephen, suffered minor injuries in the explosion, as did a Belgian tourist and a Spanish tourist.

The couple, from Fernside, Radcliffe, arrived at the £175-a-night Playo Paraiso resort in the island's capital, Santa Cruz, on Boxing Day with Robyn Anne and their other daughter.

A Canary Island Government spokesman said Stephen and Robyn Anne were treated in a general hospital on the south of the island, while Kirsteen was treated in a specialist burns unit in the capital Santa Cruz.

Kirsteen is a former Darwen Moorland High School pupil, who works as an assistant general manager at property firm JD Laing.

She married Stephen, a firefighter originally from Swinton, in August, 2004. A neighbour of the family, Ben Morris, said: “I am really shocked to hear what has happened and I hope they are okay. My whole family are thinking of them.


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“They are really nice people and good parents. They have lived here for about four years.

“They will always come round for a chat and sit out on the front in the summer with my family and have a beer and a drink.”

It is understood Tenerife Police are treating the incident as accidental.

A Foreign and Commonwealth Office spokesman said: "We are aware of an incident involving two British nationals in Tenerife. We are providing consular assistance."

The hotel, on its website, is described as having “comprehensive and marvellous facilities, lush green gardens and infinity pool”.