Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service is asking people to register all their white goods after attending several house fires caused by faulty appliances.

With the recent increase in online buying of fridge freezers, washing machines, dishwashers and tumble dryers the Service is asking people to log their white goods by visiting the website www.registermyappliance.org,uk

Community Safety Department Delivery Manager, Gail Keenan said: “The maintenance and registration of appliances is really important.

“It doesn’t matter if you’ve moved house and your cooker has been left by a previous owner or tenant or family member has given you a washing machine, you can still register.

“You don’t need a receipt – even if you don’t know when it was first bought you can still register.

“Dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves and tumble dryers always need to be switched off when not in use. We see too many household fires caused by people not turning their machines off.”

You can register any appliance up to 12 years-old on the website, by doing so you will be notified of any faults or product recalls.

Last year Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service attended 16 household fires which were caused by appliances, nine of which were tumble dryers.