THE boy believed to have been set on fire in Worcester is conscious and may soon be well enough to answer questions.

Eleven-year-old John Baldwin - known to friends and family as Johnny - suffered 30 per cent burns to his chest and abdomen when he was apparently attacked on a canal footbridge in Perdiswell last Wednesday. Rescuers say that as flames leapt from his body he screamed that children had thrown something at him and set him on fire.

He is now described as being in a critical, but stable, condition in hospital at Swansea. Police hope to talk to Johnny soon, but Det Sgt Andy Price said members of the public had supplied several leads.

He added that they were keeping an open mind as to what had happened, but did not rule out the possibility that Johnny had been attacked by other children.

Det Sgt Price added: "We hope to talk to him soon, when we hope to obtain information about how he came by his injuries.

"Until then, we are keeping an open mind as to what happened - although there is an indication that something such as an accelerant may have been thrown on him and then ignited.

"On the other hand, there is nothing to confirm that is case and there could have a dreadful accident.

"We still want to hear from anyone who was with John - or has been told who was with him.

"It's a smallish community in the area where we believe this happened and people talk to each other."

Worcester Police can be contacted on 08457 444 888, quoting incident number 181C/100805.