Residents are being urged to take greater fire safety precautions after it was revealed Wandsworth has one of the highest numbers of fire deaths in London.

Between 1996 and 2000, 13 people were killed in fires in Wandsworth, putting it alongside Lambeth and Lewisham as one of the boroughs with the second highest number of fire deaths in the capital.

Councillor Maurice Heaster, a member of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, said: "This is an appalling and extremely worrying situation. I am determined we must get the fire safety message through to the public and I appeal to all local residents to take the matter very seriously indeed."

One of the principal safety measures people can take is to buy a smoke alarm.

Smoke alarms are proven to save lives and 77 per cent of fire death victims in London, between 1996 and 2000, occurred where there were no smoke alarms in homes and 14 people were killed because their alarms did not go off, due to batteries being flat or missing.

Coun Heaster's concerns were echoed by Battersea MP Martin Linton, who has called on people to equip their homes with fire alarms before Christmas.

November 23, 2001 11:00