THE parents of a boy who died of burns after becoming soaked in petrol on Good Friday have threatened to sue Aberdeen City Council.

The family of seven-year-old Preston Flores, who died in hospital from 85% burns five days after the incident in which he was engulfed in flames, say the local authority was responsible for leaving a canister of petrol unattended and unsecured in a council van near their home in Bedford Avenue.

In an interview with a Sunday newspaper, the boy's mother Luisza, 32, described seeing her son running towards their house on fire from the neck downwards, a scene that she said would haunt her forever.

She said: "I was trying to keep calm but all the time I was thinking, 'Please, this can't be happening.'"

Meanwhile, Preston's father Keith Will, 32, spoke of their vigil in hospital in Aberdeen and later Edinburgh's Hospital for Sick Children where they learned he was unlikely to survive.

"Preston fought for a few days but the surgeon said it was the worst thing he had ever seen happen to a young boy in 28 years doing the job.

"We eventually realised it was only going to be a matter of time. It was very tough. We told him how much we loved him and how much his brothers and sisters loved him. He didn't deserve what happened to him."

Mrs Flores said: "The van should have been more secure. It was left unattended, even though there were lots of dangerous goods in there.

"There's no way the council should have left petrol in the back of a van when there were kids around. It makes me very angry and we want to sue them for it."

A spokesman for Aberdeen City Council said he could not comment while police inquiries were incomplete, but confirmed the local authority had launched an internal investigation.