Flying cigarette set dog walker's beehive on fire

A woman suffered serious burns after her beehive hairdo turned into "belisha beacon" when gust of wind caught her cigarette. Sasha Butler, 43, had just lit the cigarette outside a shop when the wind flipped it into her face, setting fire to her heavily-hairsprayed fringe. Shoppers watched in horror as flames engulfed her head. The drama unfolded just after 12pm on Monday outside the village shop in Moreton-on-Lugg, Herefordshire while Mrs Butler was walking her dog.

She managed to smother the fire with her hands before collapsing in agony. Shop owner Benny Krige said: ''The woman got herself to the shop and collapsed, her hair still smoking. ''My staff got her comfortable, gave her some basic first aid and dialled 999.'' Villagers yesterday said she was recovering in hospital.



One said: "Sasha is lovely, she's a flamboyant personality in the village. She has light brown hair in a bob but I was told she had it in a beehive style when the accident happened. One minute she stopped to light a cigarette and the next her head was covered in flames. It must have been terrifying for her but she has family nearby and friends who will support her through this."

Another villager, who did not want to be named, said: ''The word is she had a large beehive hairdo which went up like a belisha beacon when her fag blew back into her face. The amount of hair spray on her hair probably didn't help matters.'' Fire crews were called but the woman had already managed to smother the blaze with her hands before they arrived. The woman was airlifted to a specialist burns unit at Birmingham's Queen Elizabeth Hospital. She suffered burns to her head, face and smoke inhalation.