Campaigning MP demands stronger gas detector law

Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman wants every home fitted with a detector after campaigning with Stacey Rodgers, whose 10-year-old son Dominic died from it a decade ago.

Mr Sheerman said it was “worrying” that while 85 per cent of homes have smoke alarms, fewer than 20 per cent have a device to detect deadly carbon monoxide which leaves 4,000 people needing hospital treatment in hospital each year.

Now Ministers have said they will consider whether to force landlords to fit carbon monoxide detectors, although they would be reluctant to force people to act in their own homes.

Work and Pensions Minister Chris Grayling said he would give the issue “due consideration”, adding: “We have rules relating to landlords and tenants, and I would be happy to consider such a measure in those cases.

“It is difficult, however, for Governments to instruct the public about what they should do in their houses, and we do not have such regulations for smoke alarms.”

Mr Sheerman said regulation is needed because advertising campaigns alone do not do enough to raise awareness of the issue. Even the recent airing of the issue on EastEnders will not be enough to make many people act, he warned.

Meanwhile Ministers have also been urged to order retailers to inform consumers about the risks of carbon monoxide poisoning from barbecues after the death of a woman from Slaithwaite, near Huddersfield, earlier this year.

Hazel Woodhams, 30, died and her partner was seriously poisoned on a camping holiday in Norfolk after they moved their barbecue inside their tent to keep it dry overnight.

At the inquest into her death last month, Norfolk coroner William Armstrong said he would write to Ministers raising the issue of whether safety warnings should be included on packaging.

Now Colne Valley MP Jason McCartney has also called for action, suggesting that retailers selling barbecues for boating or camping have a “duty” to warn customers about the dangers of poisoning and that the use of detectors should be promoted when barbecues are sold.

“Even when people are aware of the dangers of carbon monoxide, they often associate them with appliances in the home and are unaware of the deadly carbon monoxide that barbecues can produce,” he said. “Portable barbecues and charcoal packaging usually include a warning not to burn a barbecue indoors, but most do not give an explanation why.

“People may believe that it is due to the risk of fire, but they may not be aware of the deadly risk of carbon monoxide poisoning. A clear, meaningful warning would help draw the consumer’s attention to the potential hazard.”