Horrified mother warns parents after £4.99 Home Bargains baby mirror 'burnt holes in her eight-month-old son's car seat'

A mother has reported that a baby mirror in her vehicle 'burnt holes' and nearly caused a fire in her son's car seat.

Emma Gavin was distraught when she returned from dropping off her children at school to find smoke inside the car.

The 36-year-old from Corby, Northamptonshire, said that sunlight reflecting off a mirror purchased at Home Bargains had allegedly burned holes just centimeters from where her eight-month-old son had been sitting moments earlier.

'It was a warm and sunny morning, and the light caught the padded cushion on the strap,' Ms. Gavin said.

'I started to pat it down and realized the sun glare was reflecting off the mirror like a magnifying glass. I panicked, checking Louie over. I was terrified he was burned.'

Emma Gavin was distraught when she returned from dropping off her children at school to find smoke inside the car

Sunlight reflecting off a mirror purchased at Home Bargains had allegedly burned holes just centimeters from eight-month-old Baby Louie (pictured) had been sitting moments earlier

The mirror from Home Bargains. The product is currently available for £4.99 but is out of stock online

Ms Gavin has shared alarming photos of the burns allegedly caused by the mirror. She discovered that the sun glare had come through the driver's window and struck the baby mirror.

Ms. Gavin, who has two older children aged seven and 12, was driving her partner's Volkswagen Tiguan last week, which has tinted windows and sunshades over the rear windows.

She later discovered that the sun glare had come through the driver's window and struck the baby mirror.

'It has left me feeling really anxious,' she said.

'I do feel like it was my own fault, but I never thought a device intended to make driving with a baby safer could be so dangerous.

'It could have caught fire while Louie was in the seat—that's a terrifying thought. I threw the mirror in the bin.'

Ms Gavin has shared alarming photos of the burns allegedly caused by the mirror.

She recently obtained her driver's license and purchased the mirror from Home Bargains in April.

The product is currently available for £4.99 but is out of stock online.

After sharing the incident in a mom group online, Emma was advised to purchase a convex mirror, which is curved outward.

'I was told that if the plastic is curved outward, sunlight cannot focus on a point,' Emma said.

'I never knew this, and I can't believe such a dangerous product could be sold. I'm thankful I saw what was happening while parked and not driving. But I can't stop thinking, 'what if?'

'I don't want to imagine what could have happened on a long drive or how badly Louie could have been hurt if the light had reflected just half an inch away.'

A spokesperson for Home Bargains said: 'Naturally, we are sorry to learn of our customers' experience and any distress suffered, we take the safety of our products extremely seriously.'Now that we are aware of the incident, we would be happy to work with the customer to resolve.'