Toddler gets second-degree burns on feet at the playground

A little girl has suffered severe burns on the soles of her feet from standing on a hot metal plate while playing at a park.

The toddler’s mother, Simone Pickering, was sitting just a few metres away from her daughter when it happened.

Ms Pickering said she heard screams before glancing over to see her baby 'paralysed' on top of the grate, according to the Daily Mail.

She and her husband raced their 18-month-old to a nearby hospital, where she was given painkillers and underwent surgery.

“Watching her tiny little body laying limp on the hospital bed with cords and tubes running everywhere crippled me,” Ms Pickering wrote on Facebook.

The mum says she blames the local council for what she describes as irresponsible placement of a safety hazard.

“You don't expect to have to tell your children… to watch out for scorching hot metal covers placed right in the path of little feet at a Splash and Play Water Park of all places,” she said. "I do not want this happening to any other child if I can help it."

Ms Pickering also said that even if her daughter recovers fully, she will not experience normal feeling in her feet, such is the extent of the damage to her soles.

In a statement, Ipswich Council said it had 'erected a safety barrier around the pit cover' after receiving a call about the incident.