A WOMAN has called on people to be more careful when discarding lit cigarettes after her mother had a lucky escape when her oxygen tank was seconds away from exploding.

Nicola Doyle, who suffers from Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), was walking down Lanethorpe Road, in the Firthmoor area of Darlington, when a cigarette was thrown out of a car, hitting her oxygen pipe.

It was only her split-second thinking to disconnect her pipe from the tank that saved her from more serious injury with a possible explosion, although she has suffered burns to her hands and face.

Her daughter, Jessica Doyle, said: "She was riding to get her medication just taking her time on the path.

"Next thing she knows a fag was chucked out of a car and hit her oxygen pipe. It set straight alight so she's had to disconnect the pipe before it got to her tank as obviously the oxygen is seriously flammable.

"If it got to her tank then it would have blown up and most likely caused severe damage or killed her.

"There was literally not even three centimetres left on the pipe so she's very lucky.

"She got back with all inside her nose burned as well as her lip, cheek and hand.

"She's doing well now, just having to plaster her face in creams."

Ms Doyle went to her daughter's house for first aid treatment after the incident, at about 3pm on Sunday afternoon.

The pair spent more than four hours trying to cool her face down and reduce the redness and heat.

"I was utterly shocked," said Jessica. "I really hope people do think twice about throwing lit cigarettes out of windows.

"My mam was very lucky – it really could have been a lot worse.

“People should be more careful.

"It could easily have landed on a pushchair, a child or an animal.”

Ms Doyle, 42, who also suffers from brittle, or unpredictable asthma, said the driver was a woman and that the car was red.

She said it may have been a Vauxhall Corsa, driving near to St Teresa's Roman Catholic Primary School, but she was not certain.

Her daughter said: "It's ridiculous, it could have literally blown her tank up, if she didn't act fast enough."