News

Saturday 17 November 2007

A dried-out real Christmas tree, with old fashioned hot fairy Lights, is like having a potential bomb in the middle of your home.

Up to one third of UK homes will have a real Christmas tree this year, which in modern centrally heated properties will rapidly become dry and brittle unless watered regularly.  By the third week of the festive season a senior fire official describes a dry Christmas tree as “a potential bomb in the middle of your home - combine this with hot fairy lights and you have a recipe for disaster.” 

Tim Naughton, Managing Director of Lights4fun.co.uk is campaigning for a ban on the future sale of mains replaceable indoor fairy lights in the United Kingdom.  He advises “mains replaceable fairy lights provide a significant risk of electrocution for inexperienced users and are a real fire hazard when they become hot.”

Tim says “I can’t believe that a product so dated and potentially dangerous is still widely available in Europe. Low voltage LED lights are the ideal solution for indoor Christmas decorations. They are relatively inexpensive; superbly energy efficient and importantly they will always stay cool to the touch. In addition they will save money on your energy bill and last up to ten times longer than traditional fairy lights. So protect the environment and your loved ones from risk of electrocution or fire.”

UK Christmas statistics from 2003:

§         6,000 people taken to hospital on Christmas day

§         80,000 people visit A&E over the festive period

§         350 people taken to A&E with injuries relating to Christmas lights i.e. falling from ladders or electrocution

§         UK homes are three times more likely to have a fire at Christmas than any other time

(Source ROSPA 2003 & Churchill’s Insurance 2003)