A smoker in a restaurant had an amazing escape from serious injury when his head was engulfed in a huge fireball after a dodgy cigarette lighter exploded in his face.

The lucky escape was filmed at the eatery in the city of Daqing in the Chinese province of Heilongjiang on Sunday, 16th January.

Mr Yu said he had bought the lighter online and was shocked when it exploded in his hand.

In the footage, Mr Yu is seen talking with a female companion at the table while taking out a cigarette and readying himself to light it.

As he enjoys a joke with his acquaintance, the smiling man goes to spark up the ciggie in his mouth, but sets off a huge fireball instead.

The flames flash over the table for a second as Mr Yu springs to his feet, minus the cigarette, and pats down his top.

He also checks that his face and hair are unaffected by the unexpected fireball and laughs off the incident with the other customers.

Mr Yu said he was not seriously hurt by the exploding lighter, but his face tingled for a while.

He added that he has reached out to the online seller and it is resolving the issue.