A popular doctor is fighting for his life after suffering severe burns in a horror accident at home.

Dr Darryl Peel, of Huntingfield, near Halesworth, is expected to be in an induced coma for the next six weeks after suffering burns from a bonfire.

The father-of-three, who spent 10 years as a doctor in Halesworth, was injured after trying to light the fire in his garden on Wednesday morning.

It is understood he suffered 80pc burns and was flown to the specialist unit at Broomfield Hospital, in Chelmsford, by the East Anglian Air Ambulance.

On Thursday morning his wife Susie Peel said his condition was 'touch and go'.

Mrs Peel, 47, said Dr Peel, 51, had decided to have a bonfire but after he had primed it, she thought a spark had hit the side of a nearby petrol can.

He worked at Cutlers Hill Surgery, Halesworth, until 2003, when the family emigrated to Australia. They returned the following year and Dr Peel joined Framlingham Medical Practice.

Mrs Peel said: 'He is a very much loved GP in this area. He left Halesworth in 2003 but still every Saturday when we go into town he is stopped by six or seven people to talk to him.'

She added: 'He was unwell for a year but returned to work in November at Framlingham, and the patients have been fantastically pleased. He has been made to feel so welcome after a difficult year, it is just so sad that this awful accident happened after he fought very hard to get back to fitness and work at the job he loves.'