Firm eases fears over fires safety

Bosses at Homebase acted after after the Lancashire Evening Telegraph tackled the store over concerns raised by a reader.

Now the firm has pledged to rectify what it has explained was a misprint in an advertisement which led people to believe its fireplaces were flammable.

And it will also be telling staff to stress to customers that they must not fit their own fireplaces.

Businessman Michael Eyre spotted the advertisement in a national newspaper in which Homebase announced it was selling fireplaces with back panels made of MDF. And he queried the claim with staff at the Accrington branch of Homebase.

That set alarm bells ringing because Mr Eyre, who works for a Burnley-based heating centre, realised MDF would overheat and burst into flames if used as a back panel for a fireplace.

He said: "I rang a gas fire manufacturer who told me that under no circumstances should any gas fire be fitted to anything other than a non-combustible material.

"I asked what the likely effect of installing their gas fire with an MDF panel would be and she said the MDF would overheat and burst into flames."

He added: "It would also be difficult to create an airtight seal between the MDF and the fire, leading to carbon monoxide fumes entering the room."

However the chain's communications officer Annie Neesham said the reference to MDF was a printing error. She explained: "The panel is actually made from samox. The surround is made of MDF but it is 300mm away from the fire so it is not an issue. We will be addressing this."

The advert also referred to the fireplaces as being 'easy to fit', a claim repeated in the firm's own brochure. But Ms Neesham stressed: "We also point out that fires should only be fitted by a Corgi-registered fitter. That is something we will be addressing so all our sales staff know to point that out." A spokesman for gas fire safety group Corgi said: "We would not encourage anyone to fit their own fire."