First picture of teenager scarred for life by 'girl gang' which blew up her house over a boy

Charlotte Anderson, 17, suffered severe burns in the blast which killed a neighbour and demolished three houses.

The explosion at her flat is thought to have been caused by a gang of girls in a feud over a boy.

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Charlotte Andersen: Before she was badly burnt when her home exploded

Earlier that day a mystery purple liquid was poured through her letterbox as she called 999 to say a gang of girls were causing a disturbance outside her flat and threatening her.

Yesterday Charlotte's mother Elaine Leonard, 41, said she blamed "gang culture" for the suspected attack in South Harrow, North-West London.

She said: "You look at the street and there's nothing left.

"I don't know how Charlotte survived. When I saw her I didn't recognise her. She was burned all over her face and body.

"She is lovely, bonny lass but now she could be scarred for life and she's in a lot of pain.

"She'll turn 18 in a few weeks. She should have been having the time of her life but instead she could still be in hospital.

"These are just lasses but they have tried to blow up my daughter.

"I blame gang culture. These kids are out of control. They try to settle things with knives, guns and now bombs."

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Devastation: Three homes were destroyed in the blast

The explosion ripped through Charlotte's ground-floor flat in a Victorian terrace at 9.30pm last Wednesday, flattening three homes and killing next door neighbour Emad Qureshi, 26.

Detectives are sifting through the rubble to try to determine the cause of the blast. A gas explosion was initially suspected but this is now thought to be highly unlikely.

Mrs Leonard said: "Charlotte has been having bother with these lasses for a while. They'd attacked her once before.

"On the day of the explosion she found some purple liquid had been poured through her door. She thought it was a stink bomb and tried to clean it up.

"Later that night she was on the phone when there was a massive explosion and the ceiling fell down all around her.

"The next thing she remembers was screaming for help and a man dragging her out of the rubble.

"Apart from all this I've never known her be in trouble.

"She walks away from this kind of thing. She was working hard to get the qualifications to do a childcare course and wanted to go to university."

Charlotte grew up in Newcastle but eight years ago she was placed in foster care in London.

She made regular visits to the North-East to see her mother, sister Gemma, 21, and brother Stephen, 22.

For the last few months she had been had been living independently in the flat, run by a charity which helps vulnerable youngsters, and was attending college in preparation for the childcare course.

Mrs Leonard travelled from her home in Cramlington, Northumberland-to be at her daughter's hospital bedside. She said: "I've begged her to come back to Newcastle but she's determined not to let this drive her out of London.

"We may have lived apart since she was nine but have always kept in touch. I feel so lucky that she is alive but the girls who did this need to be brought to justice."