An eight-year-old Gloucester girl died after accidentally spilling boiling fat over herself as she helped her mother prepare for her older brother's birthday party.

Tiffany Smith was helping her mother Paula in the kitchen when a deep fat fryer tipped over and covered her with the scalding liquid, the Daily Mail reported.

Paula Smith was cooking beef patties in the deep fryer for her son's 10th birthday party in October 2006 but had her back turned when the accident happened.

She told an inquest she turned around to see her daughter standing on tiptoes holding the internal basket of the deep fryer screaming "Mummy, help me".

"I could see her reaching up with the basket of the fryer in her hand and the fryer leaning towards her.

"The next thing, I heard her screaming loudly, 'Mummy help me', she was obviously in lots of pain."

"Tiffany ran out into the front garden and then back into the kitchen screaming hysterically," Mrs Smith said.

"I started taking her clothes off — I could feel they were boiling hot."

Mrs Smith then put her in a bath.

Tiffany suffered burns to her face, chest, legs, neck and back and died at Bristol Royal Hospital for children a month later.

She developed septicaemia and ultimately died of broncho-pneumonia, the inquest heard.

- NZHERALD STAFF