A teenage hairdresser killed in a “catastrophic explosion” as she drove may have died after chemicals in her equipment bag formed a lethal cocktail.

Now the grieving father of 19-year-old Jennie Mitchell – himself a Dorset fire fighter with 24 years experience – is urging hairdressers to show extreme caution when carrying hydrogen peroxide.

Jennie died earlier this month after the chemicals exploded with the force of a bomb blast as she drove her treasured Mini car along a quiet country road.

Jennie had rapidly qualified as a hairdresser after leaving The Shaftesbury School, and enjoyed horse riding and surfing.

But after meeting her “soulmate”, 21-year-old herdsman, Russell Andrews, nine months ago, Jennie’s life had entered a period of calm, said Mrs Mitchell.

The couple got engaged in December and had planned to marry on March 9 2011 – the eve of Jennie’s 21st birthday.

Now the country house hotel booked for the wedding reception will host a reception for mourners gathered to celebrate Jennie’s life.

“He’s a lovely lad. They did everything together. We have each other, but Russell has lost his soulmate. Our feelings go out to him,” said Mr Mitchell.

“The hydrogen peroxide had ventilated in the car. She opened the window, which introduced oxygen.

"Jennie was a smoker and it’s likely that she lit or had alight a cigarette.

“Until the accident, nobody knew this could happen. We keep saying, you couldn’t have written this in a script,” said Mr Mitchell.

An inquest opened at Dorchester Crown Court last Tuesday heard that Jennie’s death had followed a “catastrophic explosion,” he added.

His wife, Pauline, spoke through tears to issue a warning after learning from her late daughter’s colleagues that hairdressers routinely carry the chemical in their cars.

“We want to warn people how volatile hydrogen peroxide is, even if it is kept in the boot of a car. Jennie’s friends have all said they carry it.

“Jennie and I would text each other every morning. She was my daughter and my best friend,” said Mrs Mitchell.

Jennie would have celebrated her 20th birthday last Saturday. Her brother, Ashley, 22, an electrical engineer, was described by his parents as “a rock”.

Some 200 cards and letters of condolence have flooded the Mitchells’ Shaftesbury home with messages of support.

“We’ve had a card from the mother of a young lady who Jennie helped from a car and comforted after coming across a road accident last year.

“The girl has since had a child of her own, and her mother wrote that without Jennie she perhaps might not have her daughter or her granddaughter.

“We cried a lot over that one,” said Mr Mitchell.

A funeral service will be held at Yeovil Crematorium on Tuesday March 30, and will be followed by a reception at the Coppleridge Inn at Motcombe.

An inquest into Jennie’s death is expected to resume in three months time.

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