Claudia Winkleman has described the incident in which her daughter's Halloween costume caught alight as "life changing".

Claudia Winkleman

Claudia Winkleman

The 'Strictly Come Dancing' presenter has recalled the dramatic accident last year that saw her eight-year-old daughter, Matilda, suffer serious burns when her witch's costume brushed against a candle at a house in London.

The 43-year-old star said: "I was talking to somebody and then I heard her shout and she was on fire, it feels like she was on fire for hours.

"I live in a square (in West London) where all the kids dress up and we go round the square trick-or-treating.

"It was like horrific birthday candles you blow out and they come back, it was really, really fast, not fire like I'd seen.

Matilda has undergone several operations since the accident, but Claudia insisted it's something her family can move on from.

Claudia - who has called for tougher fire safety laws on fancy dress outfits - told BBC's 'Watchdog: "It's life changing, but not life defining. It was definitely life changing for me. I can't remember life before it ... I wish I had been dressed as the witch is mainly all I wish, that it happened to me.

"I would like parents on Halloween just to think about what they're going to put their kids in because I didn't, and it cost us."