A MUM-OF-TWO has told how her faulty tumble dryer caught fire twice - the second time after she was assured it had been fixed.

Kirsty Smith, 27, of Easingwold, said her Indesit tumble dryer - which is subject to a national safety warning - first caught fire a few months ago.

An engineer had been dispatched to fix the appliance and reassured her it was safe.

As a safety precaution Kirsty had moved it into her garden shed, where it burst into flames again soon after.

Kirsty said: “The fire happened after the engineer had been to fix and deemed it safe.

“I have two young children and it’s not acceptable. If that had been in my house, we wouldn’t have had a house.”

Last month a faulty Indesit machine was the cause of a serious tower block blaze in Shepherd’s Bush, London.

Indesit has issued safety warnings about two types of tumble dryers manufactured between April 2004 and September 2015. It said that “in some rare cases, excess fluff can come into contact with the heating element and present a risk of fire”.

The affected brands are Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda.

Engineers are being offered to modify the tumble dryers, but in the meantime Indesit said people can continue to use their tumble dryers as long as they didn’t leave them unattended or go to sleep.

York Press:

A spokesperson for Indesit said: “The safety of consumers is our number one priority and we thoroughly investigate all incidents as soon as they are reported to us. However, you will appreciate, we are unable to comment on individual cases.”

Fire crews were dispatched to put put the fire out on October 25. Two firefighters in breathing apparatus used a hose reel jet, a fire service spokesperson said.

Stuart Simpson, group manager for the service, said: “If you are concerned about your tumble dryer the Electrical Safety First website gives details of the models affected by the safety notice and what steps you should take if yours is on the list.”

He urged people to have fire alarms fitted.

Figures from North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue show that over the past couple of years there have been 37 fires involving tumble dryers.

Many were caused by a fault in the equipment or fuel supply. However, the prevalence of fires in tumble dryers which are attributed to a fault in the appliance have dropped in recent years.