Henry Montague suffers from the later stages of dementia

Henry Montague, from Eastbourne, is now in a special burns unit where he is visited every day by his two daughters.

Jane and Susan Montague fear their father, who has dementia, will never recover from the shock and say the pipes should not have been uncovered.

The Farmstead Nursing Home, near Hailsham, has now covered the pipes.

This has been a home for many, many years, and has been inspected many times Ernie Graham, nursing home owner

The care home, which is for people with dementia, received a report from the Commission for Social Care Inspection three months before the accident saying the pipes should not be left bare.

Mr Montague's daughters said their father's burns were so bad they feared he must have been trapped on the hot pipes for some time.

Jane Montague said he was in a very bad way.

"He looked ghastly. His mouth was swollen, his eyes were completely shut. There was an issue about whether he should be intubated because his throat was closing but they couldn't get a pipe into his mouth."

The home was told to cover the pipes in an inspection report

Mr Montague's other daughter, Susan, said they had not been given an explanation by the owners of the home since the accident.

"We don't know anything about staffing levels at night or how many qualified staff were on, or what their procedures were when people were calling out," she said.

Nursing home owner Ernie Graham said he was "extremely sorry" that the pipes had been left bare and they had now been covered.

Other safety measures were also constantly being updated, he added.

"This has been a home for many, many years, and has been inspected many times," he said.