Toddler hospitalised after drinking oven-cleaning product

An oven-cleaning product has been recalled due to safety concerns after a toddler drank the corrosive fluid.

Callum Blackshaw, two, has been in hospital for three weeks after drinking several mouthfuls from a bottle of Oven Pride.

Callum, from Corringham, Essex, is being cared for at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London, and may require an oesophagus transplant after suffering severe internal burns.

His injuries prompted concerns over the product's safety cap.

Chris Bull, chief executive of McBride, which owns the Oven Pride brand, said it is recalling all Oven and BBQ Pride stock as a precaution to check the safety cap mechanism.

He said: "We are extremely distressed at this situation and our heart goes out to Callum and his family.

"Everyone here wishes him a full and speedy recovery.

"Clearly, this is of deep concern to us and we are investigating how this happened as a matter of urgency."

Mr Bull said customer safety was paramount and the company had moved quickly and decisively to carry out the checks.

He said: "We have set up a dedicated customer helpline and would ask customers to call if they have any questions."

The toddler's grandmother, Carina Blackshaw, told the Basildon Echo she was "distraught" after leaving the product on a kitchen table after buying it for Callum's mother Maxine, 23.

Callum climbed on to the table and managed to open the bottle's child lock before swallowing the liquid.

Carina Blackshaw, a police community support officer, said: "The bottle might have been faulty, but we'll never know as it was taken with Callum to Basildon Hospital and then on to Great Ormond Street, but it's got lost."

The company has set up a customer helpline on 0845 605 2981.

PA