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;
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)
