SPARKS from a welder are thought to have caused a fireball that engulfed a teenage boy and a man working at an industrial estate.

The two were severely burnt by the fire at Abbey Coaches, Middlesbrough Road East, South Bank, Teesside.

Firefighters were called to the incident at 1.30pm on Saturday, where they found the 15-year-old boy and 48-year-old man, whose clothes had been burnt off by fire.

Grangetown station officer Paul Beeforth, who was among the first on the scene, said: "When we found the men, we immediately cooled them and waited for the ambulance.

"When the ambulance crew arrived, they applied special dressings and took them to hospital."

The incident, which happened inside a workshop used to repair coaches, is thought to have started when sparks from an electric arc welding machine ignited a container of cellulose thinner.

Mr Beeforth said: "This caused a fireball which engulfed the two men. It was a very serious incident."

He said he was unsure how the 15-year-old had come to be in the workshop, but that it was not the first time he had been there.

He said: "It could be that it was his Saturday job or that he was known to the owner, who may have been helping him to learn the trade. We just do not know at this stage. Police are investigating."

The teenager is in a serious condition at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, in Newcastle.

The man, who is also in a serious condition, is recovering at the James Cook University Hospital, in Middlesbrough.

Police are investigating the incident and have informed the Health and Safety Executive