Shocking video footage has been released by London Fire Brigade to highlight the danger posed by fridges and freezers.

Seven deaths and 71 serious injuries can be attributed to blazes caused by the household appliances in London since 2010, according to brigade figures.

It adds there is on average one fridge or freezer fire a week and is calling on manufacturers to make their products safer.

The brigade says fridges and freezers contain large amounts of plastic and highly flammable insulation, which if ignited, can cause large, rapidly developing fires that spread quickly and give off toxic gases.

It wants the backs of fridge and freezers made of non-combustible or fire-retardant materials as standard.

Last year an inquest was held into the death of a Harrow man who died in a house fire caused by a fridge-freezer.

The coroner raised concern over the lack of any requirement to use non-flammable materials to protect the insulation from ignition.

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LFB deputy commissioner Rita Dexter said: “Every home has a fridge or freezer and the chances are it will be plugged in and working safely for years but it is no exaggeration to say that they are potentially the most dangerous household appliances if they are involved in a fire.

“They contain large amounts of highly flammable foam insulation, often only protected by a thin plastic covering. This can be a recipe for disaster if a fault occurs or if a fire spreads from somewhere else to the fridge or freezer.

“They are also one of the few electrical items in your home to be always left on and these fires pose an even greater risk if they start when people are sleeping.

“Putting a simple non-combustible or fire-retardant covering at the back of appliances is a relatively simple change that manufacturers can make and one that we believe would reduce the number of injuries, and potentially deaths, caused by fires involving fridges and freezers.”

The footage released by the brigade was filmed at a testing facility and shows the dangers of having a fridge or freezer with a flammable plastic backing.

The fridge-freezer was well alight after just 90 seconds and had to be extinguished after just two-and-a-half minutes as the fire was starting to overwhelm the testing room.