Irwin Mitchell says that Whirlpool must do more to address customer safety after series of fires caused by tumble dryers

Defective product experts at Irwin Mitchell have said that Whirlpool must recall models of tumble dryers which have caused a series of house fires, to ensure customer safety.

The move comes after the Government’s consumer minister, Margot James, said that customer safety must be the number one priority for manufacturers. She said that she acknowledged that Whirlpool was making great efforts to modify and replace at-risk machines, but believed that additional action was required to reassure customers.

Defective product solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, Matthew Newbould, called for the firm to issue a recall on affected dryers and said more needs to be done to improve the safety of white goods.

“Whirlpool should issue a recall, to protect customer safety,” he said.

“Since Whirlpool admitted a fault existed, millions of people have carried on using these machines in their homes and in our opinion, taking a chance on customer safety, just isn’t a risk worth taking.”

Whirlpool has so far refused to issue a product recall. Instead it has advised customers to continue to use the affected machines while they are waiting for them to be “modified” – provided they are not left unattended.

Fresh pressure has now been placed on Whirlpool after a London Fire Brigade report concluded that a faulty Indesit machine, part of the Whirlpool brand, caused a serious tower block blaze in Shepherd’s Bush, London, in August.

The blaze tore through the 18-storey block in West London and took 120 firefighters hours to bring under control.

It is a year since Whirlpool admitted that the fire fault exists in some models and is caused when excess fluff touches the heating element.

The company is replacing or repairing more than 5 million potentially faulty machines across the UK, under the brand names Indesit, Hotpoint, Creda and Proline.

Defective product solicitor at Irwin Mitchell, Matthew Newbould, called for the firm to issue a recall on affected dryers and said more needs to be done to improve the safety of white goods.

Mark Dugdale