Warnings issued over potential appliance fire risk

08 July 2011

Posted by Samuel Couratin

A warning has been issued over the possible risk of starting a blaze posed by a refrigerator.

Manufacturer Beko has released a statement following a number of fires thought to have involved its appliances.

Fire investigators in London recently examined the cause of a blaze in the capital and found that a fault relating to the defrost time on a fridge freezer from the firm was to blame for the incident at a tower block.

As a result, it has issued advice to individuals with Beko fridge freezers to check the serial numbers on the machines, with owners urged to call a helpline if they find digits starting in 00, 01, 02, 03, 04, 05 or 06.

"Quality, customer safety and satisfaction is paramount to Beko; all its products are independently tested before being placed on the market and meet all UK and European safety standards," the company stated.

It is offering to conduct a "free of change modification to the defrost timer" in order to address the problem.

According to the London Fire Brigade, as many as 500,000 of the affected models could be in homes and businesses across the UK.