The Hammersmith MP says failures made following last year’s Shepherd’s Bush tower block fire should not be repeated in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower tragedy .

Andy Slaughter wrote to secretary of state for business, energy and industry strategy Greg Clark on Monday (June 26), after the London Fire Brigade (LFB) said it believed the cause of the Grenfell Tower blaze to be a Hotpoint fridge freezer manufactured by the Whirlpool company .

The MP has been leading the electrical goods safety fight after the LFB said the fire which took hold at the 18-storey Shepherds Court building on August 19 was caused by a faulty tumble dryer, awaiting repair and made by Indesit, which is owned by Whirlpool.

Hammersmith MP Andy Slaughter says he hasn't been heard

Until February this year, Whirlpool was advising users of defective machines awaiting modifications to carry on using the appliances as long as they were not left unattended.

The advice is now not to use the device until the modification is carried out.

Mr Slaughter said in the aftermath of the Shepherd’s Bush fire - which affected five floors of the building but only resulted in minor injuries - that little has been done by the manufacturers or Mr Clark’s department to address the safety concerns raised.

Hotpoint urges customers who own their fridge-freezer model number FF175BP or FF175BG to contact them after it was revealed an appliance started the Grenfell Tower fire
Hotpoint urges customers who own their fridge-freezer model number FF175BP or FF175BG to contact them after it was revealed an appliance started the Grenfell Tower fire

He writes: “The fault of the tumble dryer was well-known and had caused a large number of previous fires, though none to this severity.

"It is estimated that over five million of a range of models and brands owned by Whirlpool exhibiting the same fault have been sold in the UK over a 13-year period.

“Since the Shepherds Court fire little has been done by the manufacturer or your department to address the serious safety concerns it raised.

“There has been no recall of the defective machines and the advice that they were safe to use if attended was only changed in February this year after the threat of legal action.

“Despite Parliamentary debates , meetings with ministers and extensive correspondence, your department ignored requests by myself and other MPs of all parties, as well as the London Fire Brigade, Which?, and Electrical Safety First to recall these machines.

“Please do not let the same approach govern your response to the Grenfell Tower tragedy.”

Video Loading

He goes on to say: “Specifically, I would ask that your advice on use of the models of fridge freezer implicated in the Grenfell Tower fire is changed so that people are recommended not to use them pending the diagnosis of the fault that caused it to catch alight.”

He also asks:

  • Who is conducting the tests on the fridge freezer and when its results will be known?
  • Whether there are other instances of fires occurring from this model of fridge freezer
  • What further steps can be taken to improve safety of fridge freezers and white goods in general?

Mr Slaughter is yet to receive a reply from Mr Clark.

Customers who own a Hotpoint FF175BP or Hotpoint FF175BG have been urged to contact Hotpoint on 0800 316 3826 or visit hotpointservice.co.uk/fridgefreezer.

A spokesperson for Whirlpool said: "Our advise to customers is to call up and register their machine with us as a precautionary measure so if we need to put out further information we have the customers details and can contact them quickly and effectively."

Keep up to date with the latest news in west London via the free getwestlondon app.

You can even set it to receive push notifications for all the breaking news in your area.

Available to download from the App Store or Google Play for Android now!