6,000 tumble dryers burst into flames in six years as campaign calls for tougher safety

The shocking figure is far worse than first thought – and at least 270 people have been injured

Tumble Dryer fire in Guildford — Blaze: Tumble dryers have caused 6,000 fires

Campaigners have demanded tougher safety laws after it was revealed 6,000 tumble dryers have burst into flames over the past six years.
The shocking figure is far worse than first thought – and at least 270 people have been injured.
A Mirror investigation found firefighters had been called to 3,777 incidents of tumble dryers catching light since 2010.
However, only 33 of the 54 UK services responded to our request for data, while 16 refused to answer and 19 did not provide stats for the whole years.
It is estimated the true figure could be as high as 6,000.

Tumble tragedy: Doug McTavish died last year after a tumble dryer fire

The number of casualties is also likely to be much greater as only 17 brigades revealed injury data.
Read more: Killer tumble dryers alert as figures reveal a machine bursts into flames almost daily
Lawyer and campaigner Jill Paterson said: “These figures are shocking and demonstrate further the need for urgent change to the product safety regulation system.

Shocking: The aftermath of the fire in which Doug McTavish died last year

“For firms consumer safety must be the paramount consideration over any other factor.
"Firefighters’ lives are also at risk each time they attend one of these incidents. Better regulation would mean all this could be avoided.”
Read more: Victims to sue tumble dryer makers over deadly infernos
The Mirror has campaigned for a better system of alerting customers and of recalling machines which may be at risk.

More than five million faulty Hotpoint, Creda and Indesit dryers, have been sold since 2011.
Whirlpool bought the brands in 2014 but only issued a product alert last November.