Now it’s exploding washing machines!
A FAMILY’S kitchen was wrecked when their washing machine blew up in mid-cycle.
Luckily Simon and Zara Bettridge and their three children were out of the house when the Hotpoint exploded.
They returned to find their worktop cracked and dislodged, cupboards and a sink shattered, the top of the washing machine ripped open and half-washed clothes strewn around.
The incident follows a series of fires involving tumble dryers which are believed to have resulted in at least three deaths and hundreds of injuries.
Last year it emerged that many tumble
dryers made by Hotpoint and sister brands Indesit and Creda, may need repairs to prevent them being a fire risk. parent company Whirlpool has faced criticism over the slow progress of a modification programme to around 5million vented tumble dryers.
The explosion at the Bettridges’ home in plymouth occurred on Saturday. Mr Bettridge had taken the couple’s three young children out, leaving his wife, 33, at home. She put a load of washing on and went to a neighbour’s. When she returned two hours later she thought at first that the house had been ransacked by burglars.
Mr Bettridge, 43, said: ‘The fire brigade came out to make sure our home was safe and that there was no gas or water leak. Even they said they’d never seen anything like this before. At some point the washing machine drum came apart and sent its load up through the top of the washing machine and destroyed a good chunk of the kitchen. If a child had been stood anywhere near they would have been seriously injured.’ Despite being left without a func- tioning kitchen, the Bettridges were initially warned by Hotpoint that it would be ten days before a mechanic could visit to inspect their five-year-old appliance, which had been serviced annually.
Mr Bettridge, a bus driver, said: ‘I explained to them it’s not acceptable and we’ve got no sink or way of washing up. I feel that Hotpoint has treated this as a normal breakdown. I thought they would pay more attention to the situation.
‘The lady on the phone said there was nobody I could talk to, and when I got annoyed she put the phone down on me.’
Yesterday Whirlpool told the Daily Mail: ‘ We investigate all reported incidents thoroughly as soon as they are reported to us and in the case of Mr and Mrs Bettridge, customer services will call the customer on Wednesday to arrange for the machine to be removed and examined in detail.
‘However, until we have completed these investigations, we are unable to comment further on this isolated incident.’