This is the nerve-wracking moment a curious toddler set an armchair on fire while playing with a match left lying around.

Theo, the three-year-old boy, repeatedly struck the matchstick against the igniter strip in front of the chair in a living room in Lanao del Norte, the Philippines.

CCTV footage shows the youngster dropping the small lit stick onto the armchair, causing the upholstery to catch alight and the fire to spread across the cover on November 16.

Theo then rushed to his mother, Cristina Dequina, who was inside a bedroom, for help.

Alarmed by what was happening, the frantic woman ran out of the room and quickly pulled the burning furniture away from the wall to prevent the flames from spreading to the wooden shelving above.

She then extinguished the blaze with small buckets of water from the toilet and removed the beige cover.

The boy did not sustain any serious injuries from the incident.

Cristina said: 'I told my son that I'd take a short nap because my shoulder was hurting and twitching, so I left him in the living room. But just a few minutes later, he woke me up and told me about the fire. I never expected this to happen.'