MP Gordon Henderson has told of the moment he was engulfed by flames - leaving him with 30% burns to his body.

The Sittingbourne and Sheppey representative is recovering at his Eastchurch home after 10 days in East Grinstead's specialist Queen Victoria Hospital.

There had been speculation the 69-year-old had suffered his injuries while lighting a barbecue.

But this morning he moved to address "a great deal of speculation" about the incident by revealing what happened.

He says he is also doing this in the hope it will act as a warning to other people so they don't suffer the same fate.

He said: "I regularly have bonfires in my garden, to such an extent that I constructed a purpose built, three sided enclosure, using thermo-blocks in order to improve safety and protect surrounding vegetation.

"When setting a bonfire I often use a small amount of petrol to get started. I am always very careful when doing this and I ensure that the newspaper lighting fuse is nowhere near any part of the bonfire that has come in contact with petrol.

"However, on this occasion, I failed to take into account my new bonfire enclosure would create a build-up of petrol fumes.

"That, my friends, was a problem I had not anticipated. When I lit the bonfire it was those fumes that exploded, not the petrol itself!

"Because the fire was contained on three sides the exploding fumes had nowhere to go, except forward - towards me. It was a scary moment.

"Thankfully, there was a hosepipe close by (positioned for just such an eventuality) and my wife, Louise, had the good sense to immediately douse me with water for 10 minutes.

"If she had not taken such immediate action then I might well be dead, and that is not being over-dramatic."

"Thereafter our fantastic NHS kicked in and I found myself in the capable hands of a succession of caring health professionals.

"Louise took me to the minor injuries unit at Sheppey Community Hospital, where there was the usual two-hour waiting time.

"Luckily, staff recognised that I was an emergency case, set aside protocol, and I was seen immediately.

"I can only apologise to anybody who thought at the time I had jumped the queue. I am sure that in similar circumstances the same would have happened to them.

"Hospital nursing staff brought down my skin temperature with water soaked paper towels, which worked, but left me shivering, which wasn’t helped when shock kicked. Soon I found myself shaking uncontrollably.

"A decision was taken to take me, as soon as possible, to the trauma unit at Tunbridge Wells Hospital, and the quickest way of doing that was by using the Kent Air Ambulance.

The journey from Sheppey to Pembury took just over 10 minutes. By road it would have taken a couple of hours.

"Once again I had reason to be thankful to all those people who help keep the air ambulance flying. We take so much for granted.

On my arrival at Pembury I was handed over to the hospital’s first-class trauma team, which photographed my injuries and fed the information to the specialist burns unit in the Queen Victoria Hospital.

I was transferred from Pembury to East Grinstead, this time by standard ambulance, and was admitted to the ITU, where I was ensconced for the next 10 days.

It appears I sustained burns on 30% of my body, although, once again, I was lucky.

"My burns were deemed “superficial”, in as much that no skin grafts were needed, although, apparently, such wounds are the most painful because they affect surface nerves.

"I can vouch for that pain. I was in agony. Perhaps I was not so lucky after all.

"However, despite the pain I have suffered during the past couple of weeks I could not help but be impressed by the dedication, professionalism, hard work and good humour of all the NHS staff who cared for me and their many other patients. They were exceptional."

"During my 10 day stay in hospital I learned much about our fantastic NHS and the pressures under which it is operating.

"So, to anybody out there who is in the habit of using petrol to start a bonfire, or is tempted to do so in the future, I would urge you to resist such temptation."