SHOPS STILL SELLING ‘FIRE-RISK’ FRIDGES

Watchdog in warning over plastic-backed products

POTENTIAL fire-risk fridges are still widely available on the high street, a watchdog has revealed.

Argos and Currys PC World are stocking potentially unsafe plasticbacked fridges, fridge-freezers and freezers, despite warnings they can be “extremely flammable”, according to Which?

It found AO.com had 173 plasticbacked models, Argos listed 137 and Currys PC World had 56 on their websites.

All three retailers said they now had fewer plastic-backed products than APPLIANCES Argos when the study was done, on January 21, and Argos said some appliances had been incorrectly marked as plastic, when they were metal-backed. Plastic-backed fridges, freezers and fridge freezers have all passed safety tests, but Which? said the tests should be tougher. Alex Neill, of Which?, said: “Responsible retailers need to put the safety of their customers first. They need to take immediate action to remove these products from sale.” All three retailers stressed their products had passed safety tests. AO said 9.5% of its items were plastic-backed, Currys PC World said 2.1% and Argos said it offered “a small range”.