A 38-year-old woman who set light to herself at a petrol station in Canterbury was today in a critical condition at the specialist burns unit at East Grinstead in west Sussex.

The woman, who was in a wheelchair, doused her body in petrol on the forecourt of the Peugeot petrol station on Upper Bridge Street yesterday afternoon. She suffered 40 to 50 per cent burns.

The woman, who lives on the Spring Lane estate in Canterbury, did not have a car with her when she entered the filling station. She was seen to stand up and pour petrol over herself from a pump.

She talked for several minutes to members of the public and garage staff who had seen her actions, and to a police officer before she dropped the petrol hose and ignited herself.

Police, an ambulance and firefighters had been notified and had arrived at the scene. Firefighters acted quickly to extinguish the flames.

The woman was taken to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital by ambulance and later airlifted to the Sussex hospital.