THE public is being warned after a hoverboard caught fire.

Sue Ivatt, a watch manager at East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, bought one of the gadgets for her son.

The 45-year-old, from Saltdean, said she took time to research the product choice and ensured they followed all the safety advice given.

But one day, while her son was using it in his bedroom, it overheated and started to smoke.

She said: “Our son really wanted one of the hoverboards.

“We were aware that there had been some fires involving hoverboards so we have a small fire extinguisher which was kept wherever the hoverboard was. We taught my son how to use it just in case.

“My son was on the hoverboard in his bedroom when he shouted for help. My husband ran upstairs just as my son pulled the pin on the extinguisher.

“Smoke was coming out of the wheel of the hoverboard.”

She carried the gadget from the house and put it in the garden before calling the fire service.

An East Sussex Fire and Rescue spokesman said: “The fire service were quickly called.

“However, this incident could all too easily have been so much more serious if, for example, this had happened at night when the family were asleep.