A GARAGE boss said a man who suffered burns when brake fluid ignited was injured in a prank that went wrong.

Police and ambulance crews were called to Manor Service Centre, on the Manor Trading Estate in Benfleet, after 20-year-old trainee mechanic Harry Smith, from Southend, suffered burns to his hands and legs.

Another colleague, a 29-year-old man from Shoebury, was arrested on suspicion of GBH and bailed until January 19 next year, but the business owner says it was just an accident.

Steve Mendes, 50, who runs the workshop in Armstrong Road, with his brother, said: “This was just two boys messing around and it was a complete accident, there was no malice in it at all.

“Harry has been kept in hospital so he can be monitored to make sure he doesn’t get any infections.

“The boys were larking around with the cleaner outside the workshop and somehow the fluid ignited and it burned Harry’s hand and the back of his leg.

“Both of the boys are at fault and both feel guilty. Everyone is a bit upset, but we are all pulling together. We are all really close here.”

Harry, who is Mr Mendes’ nephew, was taken to Southend Hospital and then transferred to the burns unit at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford so he could be monitored following the incident on Wednesday afternoon.

Police are continuing to investigate the incident. The Health and Safety Executive has been informed.

Mr Mendes added: “We are a family business and both of the boys will be back to work when they are ready. It was a prank that went wrong.”