A CHILD was temporarily blinded and deafened when a new exploding gimmick called a Bomb Bag blasted in her face.

The youngster, from Read, was bending over the bag when it went off.

Now shocked newsagent Mr Patrick Parsons, who sells the products which are the latest fad for youngsters nationwide, is clamping down on the sale of the bomb bags to young children and may even boycott the item in the future.

The 20p bomb bags, which have an approved Common Market mark, can be purchased by youngsters of 10 years and over but Mr Parsons, who runs Read Newsagents, is increasing the purchasing age to 16 years.

He said: "Bomb bags are going down a storm. This is a precautionary step we are taking to avoid any similar accidents although we have sold hundreds of them without incident. We feel 16 is a more responsible age to sell them which is the same purchasing age for fireworks. I may pull them off the shelf at a later date."

A customer of Mr Parsons is planning to take the case to the Trading Standards.

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