A lucky Sidcup woman who escaped a fire sparked by a faulty tumble dryer has said more people should be aware about faulty and dangerous goods.

Radhika Popat rushed from her flat in Sidcup High Street after a fire broke out whilst she slept.

The 43-year-old was woke to the sound of her fire alarm, and is now furious that the cause of the fire was a tumble dryer which manufacturers had issued a safety notice about.

While Indesit did make efforts to contact people who had registered their appliance with the manufacturer to let them know about the fault, anyone who hadn’t done so might still be in the dark about the fire risk.

Miss Popat said: "It was such a shock and I think I should have been told.

"I bought it online so the retailer had my email and my address. There should be a way for manufacturers to get that information across to customers – even if it’s via the place it was purchased from.

"I’ve had the dryer since 2014 and I now know that it was a ticking time-bomb but who knows how many other people have this same machine in their home. I have been lucky and I’m praying that everyone else is safe.

"The recall register is a very good thing to have and it could definitely save peoples lives. If I had known mine was a fire risk I would have done something about it. I wouldn’t have wanted it in my home."

The London Fire Brigade is also calling for better publicity around recalls and safety notices to ensure no consumers slip through the net when there is a fault.

A London Fire Brigade spokesperson said: “This shows that manufacturers should step up and really invest in promoting safety notices and recalled products.

“Fires like this can be devastating for residents and in some cases, fatal.

“This fire also highlights just how important it is to have working smoke alarms in your property. There could have been a very different outcome to this fire if there hadn't been any."

Miss Popat said she is usually careful to empty the water in her tumble dryer and clear any fluff, which she did do when she put a load on after 6pm on Sunday, January 21.

She woke up 40 minutes later to her fire alarm sounding and the smell of smoke to see a fire behind the dryer.

She said: “My smoke alarm saved my life. That fire would have killed me as there was a lot of smoke,” she said.

“Everyone should have a smoke alarm and change the batteries on a regular basis.

“When I went back home I was really upset at the state of the flat.

“There was soot everywhere and everything smells of smoke, but the firefighters were amazing. They saved my home, which is my sanctuary and where I feel safe. It’s heart-breaking but at least I got out.”