A little boy had to be rushed to a specialist burns unit after a Basildon woman left him alone in the bath.

The two-year-old screamed in agony after his older playmate turned on the hot water tap and severely burnt his feet.

Joanne Fraser, of Dewsgreen, Vange, admitted child neglect and cruelty while she was looking after the youngsters between September 1 and October 16 last year.

Diane Stenning, prosecuting, told Basildon magistrates that Fraser had left the children alone while she went downstairs to fetch a towel.

She said: "The older child, aged three, has a fascination with taps and turned them on."

Fraser heard a scream from the bathroom and ran back upstairs to see scalding hot water running into the bath.

She grabbed the youngster and doused his burnt feet with cold water. Then she called an ambulance and the child was taken to Basildon Hospital. He was later transferred to the burns unit at Broomfield.

Miss Stenning added that police who later called at Fraser's house found there wasn't enough food for the children. The fridge contained just beer, milk and sunflower oil, police officers claimed.

The cooker was thick with grease and there were a number of items littered about which could be dangerous in a child's hands.

Miss Stenning said: "The house was in a general state of untidiness and dangerous for children.

"In interview Miss Fraser agreed she had been neglectful by leaving the children alone."

Jason Bishop, defending, said Fraser had left the children in the bath for just a few minutes.

He added: "She accepts that the house was in a mess with clothes, which she was sorting out, strewn about.

"There was a a freezer full of food in the house."

Fraser was sentenced to two years probation after magistrates accepted she had not deliberately hurt the two-year-old.

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