A MAN was thrown 5ft into the air and was badly burnt when a World War Two reenactment went dangerously wrong.

Suffering from blast injuries, the man, believed to be in his 60s, had to be airlifted to hospital with burns to his left hand, chest, abdomen and face after the ‘fake’ handgrenade he was holding, exploded.

The incident happened at around 4pm yesterday at the War in the Vale reenactment event, held at Evesham Ashdown Camp near Badsey.

An eyewitness said: “This guy was standing by some explosive charges and it went off.

"It was just after the reenactment finished and, for about 20 seconds, everyone thought it was part of the show.

"He must have been badly injured. He was thrown about 5ft in the air. He flipped and fell sideways and then landed on the ground.

"Then the St John Ambulance paramedics rushed in. He was picked up by the air ambulance at about 4.45pm."

More to follow...