Charlotte Stidolph, 13, received the "temporary" image of the Playboy bunny from a street stall during a two-week family holiday in Crete in August.

Everything was fine for the first week, but after she returned home, she started to suffer reactions.

As the ink began to fade, her skin began to blister and turn red – then her eyes started watering and her face began to swell.

Her mum Karen Stidolph, 36, took her to South Tyneside District Hospital, where she was kept in for almost a week.

She said: "She was unrecognisable. We were really panicking.

"We rushed her to hospital and doctors kept her in for six days. They told us they have never seen a reaction like this to a henna tattoo before.

"They said it was an extreme allergic reaction. She was in a lot of pain."

She added: "It's been the biggest regret of her life. Charlotte's devastated about it."

The Whitburn Comprehensive pupil, who lives with her mum, dad Brian, 39, and brother Cameron, 15, in Cornthwaite Park, Whitburn, was given a course of antibiotics and creams, and is now in her second week off school.

She now faces an agonising wait to find out if the scar disappears, or if it will be with her for the rest of her life.

Mrs Stidolph wants to use her daughter's plight to warn others of the dangers of henna tattoos.

She added: "I think what happened to Charlotte is an example of how things can go wrong if you're not careful.

"We only let her get one because she was asking for days and all the other kids were getting them. Even then, we weren't totally happy about it.

"You think it's just some innocent fun, but this is what can happen.

"I think people should stay away from them because I wouldn't want this to happen to anyone else."