Millions of households are at risk from potentially dangerous tumble dryers as it emerged one machine bursts into flames almost every day.
Freedom of Information responses from fire brigades across the UK have revealed 926 fires caused by dryers were reported to emergency services between 2011 and 2013 – equal to 309 a year.
It comes after mum-of-two Mishell Moloney died in a house fire believed to have been sparked by a tumble dryer.
Five million Hotpoint, Creda and Indesit dryer models sold between 2004 and 2015 are subject to a product safety alert after being linked to a string of blazes.
The fire fault is caused when excess fluff touches the heating element.
Yet the three brands’ owner Whirlpool only issued the UK safety alert in November. It has not issued a product recall.
Last June, consumer watchdog Which? revealed thousands of fires have been caused by faulty household appliances, including tumble dryers.
Its executive director Richard Lloyd said: “It’s shocking that everyday household appliances can pose such a danger.
“More needs to be done to protect consumers from this risk and it’s crucial that products known to be dangerous are recalled as quickly as possible.”
Firefighters also demanded yesterday that firms do more to check faulty models as Whirlpool’s phonelines were jammed with worried customers checking theirs.
Matt Wrack, general secretary for the Fire Brigades Union , said: “It is time for manufacturers to now take responsibility and start ensuring that the goods they sell to the public in good faith are safe to use.
“We urge anyone who owns a tumble dryer to contact the manufactures and check immediately if it needs to be serviced.”
Ms Moloney’s body was found by neigh- bours at her flat in Frankley, Birmingham, on Sunday. Fire officers believe the blaze was caused by a faulty dryer and have launched an investigation.
However West Midlands Police confirmed it was not one of the models subjected to a safety alert.
In another incident Doug McTavish, 39, and Bernard Hender, 19, died in a blaze at their flat in Conway, North Wales, in October 2014, which was linked to a faulty dryer.
It is not known whether the machine was one of those affected by the product safety alert, but Mr McTavish’s father Douglas said of the alert: “It’s too little, too late.
“The only thing we can hope now is that the problem is removed, the people responsible for this stand up and are accountable, and that it never happens again.”
FOI responses suggested Hotpoint models had the most tumble dryer fires, at 410 between 2011 and 2014. The data does not include smaller blazes which go unreported.
Emma Palmer, from Cheshunt, Hertfordshire, told how she and her son escaped when her Hotpoint dryer caught fire two years ago. Independent experts ruled the blaze started when fluff was drawn into the heater element.
Ms Palmer said: “Me and my son were literally hanging out the window.”
In 2013, Which? flagged up a pattern of fires involving Hotpoint dryers.
It has found 113 models of more than 140 tumble dryers built by the three brands are included in the safety alert – 80% of all of those they made during the affected period from 2004-2015.
Some 80 out of 93 Hotpoint’s models are included in the safety alert, along with 28 of Indesit’s 37 models and five out of 11 Creda dryers.
Almost 12.5 million households in the UK – or 56% – owned a tumble dryer in 2013. The Royal Society for the Protection of Accidents said it had seen a rise in reports of unsafe machines.
Product safety adviser Philip Le Shirley said: “We have seen manufacturers take action, particularly in relation to the fluff fault. We hope that lessons from the recent recall have been learnt and taken on board so that these types of faults can be prevented.”
The safety alert was issued after the introduction of tougher safety checks by the three brands’ new owner, US-based Whirlpool. Indesit’s two large air-vented and condensing dryers were sold under the brand names Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda from 2004 to 2015.
A Whirlpool spokesman said: “Whirlpool global safety experts worked with Indesit to review Indesit’s product portfolio using Whirlpool’s industry leading tools and methodologies.
“It is the outcome of those investigations that led Indesit to raise the issue for further consideration with the relevant regulatory authorities, which determined corrective action was needed.
“As part of its ongoing effort to deliver quality products to customers, the company investigated the current dryer situation. All reported issues are investigated thoroughly. The company continues to follow up on any new reports it is made aware of.”
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