Warning to unplug your tumble dryer

OWNERS of certain tumble dryers made by Whirlpool have been told to unplug them immediately becauase of a serious risk they could burst into flames.

Under pressure from trading standards officers, bosses at Whirlpool have upgraded their safety warnings. Previously, they said people shouldn’t switch on the dryers then leave them unattended until they have been fixed by a technician.

Now the company is saying people shouldn’t use them at all until they have been fixed.

The tumble dyers affected are vented and condensed ones branded Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda and made between April 2004 and September 2015. The move follows consumer group Which? formally requesting a judicial review of PTS in December over its handling of the alert.

It is thought that more than 2.5million UK households may still be using the faulty tumble dryers.

White goods giant Whirlpool owns the three brands affected and is based in Peterborough.

In October fire chiefs warned people to stop using the tumble dryers after one caught fire and then caused a huge blaze in a 19 storey London block of flats. However, Whirlpool did not issue a product recall and stuck to urging those who own one of the affected dryers to register for a free modification, advising that the machines were safe to use providing they were not left unattended. It has taken until now for Whirlpool bosses to issue the same warning. The Whirlpool website now says: “Trading standards confirmed, following an internal review by independent experts, that the modification programme remains the most effective way of resolving this issue. As a result, we will con- tinue with our efforts to provide consumers with a free of charge modification as quickly as possible.

“The modification gramme will continue.”

The company said in a statement: “Trading standards have confirmed that our actions to date in this campaign have been undertaken diligently and responsibly.”

Councillor Simon Blackburn, chairman of the Local Government Association’s safer and stronger communities board, said: “While this change in advice is sensible, it should have been issued far sooner, as this would have lowered the risk of affected tumble dryers catching fire and ultimately, putting people’s lives in serious danger.” pro-

Advice given sooner would have lowered the risk of affected dryers catching fire. Councillor Simon Blackburn

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