A mum has issued a warning to other parents after a £14.99 lava lamp exploded - damaging £1,800 worth of gaming equipment.
Deborah Costellow, from Leicester, UK, said she was woken on Sunday night (3 July) by a gunshot noise, followed by screaming.
The lamp was gifted to her 11-year-old son Corley for his birthday on Christmas Eve and this was only the second time he'd used it (so clearly it wasn't exactly his favourite present before it exploded everywhere).
Deborah said her boy was understandably 'terrified' by the unexpected lava explosion, and while plenty of damage was done, she's just glad things didn't turn out worse.
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"He was literally crying in bed," the 29-year-old told LeicestershireLive.
"We turned the light on - the lava lamp had exploded everywhere. I checked he was OK and calmed him down, while my partner went to get cleaning items.
"All of his stuff is ruined. Nothing works. And he is scared to go sleep at night.
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"I'm just grateful he wasn't sat at his desk when it happened, if he was - it would've been a completely different story.
"He would've been burnt by the wax. The situation could have been so much more dangerous."
The lava lamp was purchased from B&M and Deborah said the 'red hot' wax exploded all over Corey's computer, VR headset, games consoles and equipment, totalling a value of around £1,800.
Mum-of-two Deborah insisted that the lamp was unplugged at the time of the explosion.
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She said: "When I go to sleep every single night I turn all my plugs off apart from my fridge freezer. I suffer quite badly from OCD and I know for I fact I unplugged the lamp from the wall before bedtime.
"We got into bed around 10pm, I had my eight-year-old son Caide in my room as he wasn't feeling well and a couple hours later we hear this gunshot sound. Then I heard the screaming and me and my partner ran straight into Corley's room."
Deborah claims the lamp was only turned on twice before its demise and she has encouraged anyone else in possession of one to lob it in the bin.
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She said: "The next morning he was in tears, knowing when he come's back from school he'll be coming home to nothing.
"I complained to B&M on Monday morning and they asked us to send it off in the post, which I did first thing on Tuesday.
"All I will say is if you have this item - bin it. It's dangerous. Get rid of them".
A B&M spokesperson said: "We are aware of this and when we spoke to the customer she confirmed the lamp was not plugged into an electricity supply when she found it.
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"We're currently waiting for the customer to return the lamp so we can investigate further."
Jake Massey