Shoppers go power mad

Race to buy last of 1,600-watt vacs

STORES are braced for a buying frenzy as shoppers hoover up the last of the powerful vacs before they are banned on Friday.

Vacuum cleaners with motors above 900 watts will be outlawed to reduce household energy use.

Currys predicts it will sell out of its 1,600-watt cleaners, the biggest on the market.

Panic buying broke out three years ago when the first phase of an EU directive ordered an end to vacs with 2,000-watt motors.

Online electrical store AO.com said: “Ahead of the change in 2014 we saw a 380% increase in the sales of vacuum cleaners. We envisage the same again.”

This latest part of the purge to make Europe more environmentally friendly means vacuums will now be less powerful than some kitchen blenders.

But the move was branded “bonkers” by climate-change expert Dr Benny Peiser, who said homes would be forced to use less-efficient machines for longer to clean their DUST-BUSTER Vacs now power down to 900 watts homes. The environmentalist with the Global Warming Policy Foundation added: “This has nothing to do with energy, climate or saving the planet. “I suspect it has more to do with businesses in Europe wanting to compete with successful industry in Britain. By introducing these regulations they can get an upper hand.” It is unclear how Brexit will affect the ruling but Get Britain Out said: “Once we are outside the EU we will be able to repeal these regulations.” The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “We support measures that will save money on energy bills.”

It is bonkers and has nothing to do with energy or saving the planet DR BENNY PEISER CLIMATE-CHANGE EXPERT