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Desperate hunt for 500,000 Whirlpool dryers in Brit homes feared to be ticking time bombs that could cause deadly house fires


THE hunt for up to 500,000 faulty Whirlpool tumble dryers, which could cause deadly house fires, is continuing as the company is pressured by the government over the issue.

Whirlpool is in the process of replacing or repairing 3.8million appliances – but earlier this month the government stepped in to order the firm to recall any machines that could still be a risk.

 The government is about to force Whirlpool to recall faulty tumble dryers

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The government is about to force Whirlpool to recall faulty tumble dryersCredit: Alamy

On June 4, it gave Whirlpool 10 days to respond to its request.

The deadline has since passed and the government tells us that Whirlpool has replied.

But neither the government or Whirlpool would reveal what was said or what happens next – only saying that discussions are ongoing.

Only last week, the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS), part of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) issued a new warning to customers to unplug any unmodified machines.

Is your dryer on the faulty list?

HERE’S how to know if your dryer is on the faulty list:

Whirlpool, which owns the Hotpoint brands, says it has identified a potential concern with two types of tumble dryers manufactured between April 2004 and September 2015.

The affected brands are:

  • Hotpoint
  • Indesit
  • Creda
  • Swan
  • Proline

Non-affected machines will have a green sticker on the inside of the dryer door or reverse of the machine.

If your machine doesn’t have a green sticker, you need to check if it’s faulty. You can do this by locating the serial code and model number (found on the back of the dryer or on the back of the dryer door) and entering it onto the online checkers at safety.hotpoint.eu or safety.indesit.eu or safety-swan.eu.

The potentially faulty machines come under the brand names of Creda, Hotpoint, Indesit, Proline, and Swan, and they’ve been blamed for 750 fires over the past decade.

The appliances can be dangerous because excess fluff can catch in the heating element and cause a fire.

Whirlpool estimates that that there are between 300,000 and 500,000 fire-risk tumble dryers potentially still in people’s homes.

It has so far modified 1.7million machines out of the 3.8million units it identified back in November 2015 as still being in use.

The company believes the remaining 1.6million machines have either been disposed of by customers or are so old that they’re no longer used.

In April, the OPSS published a report which told Whirlpool to improve its risk management and communication with customers about tumble dryer repairs.

For more than 15 months the firm told customers that machines with a fault were safe to use, as long as they weren’t left unattended.

But then in February last year it back-tracked on the advice to tell customers they should not use the appliances until AFTER they had been fixed.

‘My Whirlpool tumble dryer caught fire after it had been fixed’

A MUM of four was forced to flee her home when her Hotpoint tumble dryer caught fire after it had been modified by Whirlpool to fix a fault.

Jemma Spurr, 33, from Hampshire was at home with three of her children – Amelia, 5, Freddie, 2, and Amber, 1, when her dryer caught fire.

The blaze even damaged her fridge, freezer and washing machine beyond repair and as they were low on cash and had no home insurance they were left without vital appliances for five weeks.

The dryer was one of 3.5million machines recalled by Whirlpool, which owns Hotpoint and other white goods manufacturers, in October 2015.

Over 1.7million appliances have been modified by the firm to fix a fault, and the company claims that there have been no reports of modifications being uneffective.

But for Jemma, the blaze on her machine, which had been modified two years previously, had a devastating impact.

“The fireman said if it had been five minutes longer it would have been different story.

“Our gas pipe and boiler was really near the tumble dryer, so if that had exploded it could have been so much worse – my neighbour is a childminder and she had kids in the room next to our garage.

“It’s not worth thinking about, what could have happened.

“It’s impacted my anxiety more than anything.

“If I smell burning I’m constantly checking to see where the kids are.”

A spokesperson for Whirlpool told The Sun: “Safety is our number one priority and we remain committed to resolving any affected tumble dryers that have not yet been modified.

“To this end, we are in ongoing discussions with the OPSS to agree additional measures we have proposed to reach consumers who have not yet engaged with this safety programme.

“We have cooperated with the OPSS throughout its recent review of the programme and welcome its findings that consumers whose tumble dryers have been modified can continue to use them safely.”

Anyone with an affected dryer who has not already had it modified should contact Whirlpool immediately on 0800 151 0905 or visit the websites listed in the box above.

You should also unplug any machines that haven’t been modified and stop using them until the modification is complete.

But even after being modified there have been concerns that appliances still aren’t up to scratch.

Consumer group Which? revealed earlier this year that it has spoken to 30 people who have said that their “fixed” tumble dryers have caught fire, produced smoke or the smell of burning.

An investigation by Which? in December 2016 also found that Whirlpool tumble dryer customers could wait a YEAR for repairs or replacement.

But it’s not just tumble dryers, one family say they’re lucky to be alive after a Hotpoint dishwasher fire left them homeless after a major house blaze.

Meanwhile, an expert said in November 2018 that the Grenfell Tower blaze was probably caused by overheating in the wiring of a Hotpoint fridge freezer.

Watch this Hotpoint tumble dryer as it catches fire​ ​in the middle of


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