Rumbled over the tumblers

Whirlpool caves in to recall 800,000 dryers

WHIRLPOOL buckled to pressure yesterday to finally issue a product recall of 800,000 faulty tumble dryers in homes across the UK.

Owners will be entitled to a new replacement machine, with no charges for delivery, installation or removal of faulty models, the Office for Product Safety and Standards said.

Up to five million machines across brands Hotpoint, Creda, Indesit, Proline and Swan had a design fault allowing fluff to touch the heating element, which has caused at least 750 fires.

Whirlpool modified 1.7million affected dryers after the problem was discovered in 2015. There was further controversy as it emerged fires still occurred in some modified machines.

In June, the Government said it would issue a recall notice of up to 500,000 dryers which are a fire risk.

Whirlpool will replace unmodified tumble dryers affected by the fault.

Sue Davies of Which? urged Business Secretary Greg Clark to ensure it happens quickly.

She said: “We have serious doubts about Whirlpool’s ability to urgently get these faulty machines out of people’s homes given the company’s history of dragging its heels and its failure to find hundreds of thousands of machines that could still be in circulation almost four years on. It’s critical the Government closely oversees this long-overdue recall.”

Consumer Affairs Minister Kelly Tolhurst said: “Consumers with an unmodified machine should contact Whirlpool to arrange a replacement.”

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