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A 41-year-old builder saw his trousers catch fire after putting a spare vape battery in his shorts pocket.

He’d been carrying a paving slab when he heard a strange fizz, felt intense heat, and saw his trousers catch fire.

Dave Johnson, from Colne, Lancashire, said the loose rechargeable battery in his cargo pants “shorted” against his keyring.

He said: “I heard a fizzing sound, almost like when a firework rocket starts to go off, and then felt the pain."

“The pain in my right leg was excruciating… I dropped the flag and saw flames shooting out of my pocket — the flames were eight or nine inches coming out of my leg.”

He added: “It wasn’t the actual e-cig that caused it, it was incorrect transportation of the battery… I’m not keeping batteries in my pocket any more.”

He wa

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