WHEN North Yorkshire pensioner Bill Hargreaves tried out his new radio-controlled doorbell, he was amazed to see the next door neighbour answer the cheerful chime.

Half an hour later, he went to the door to answer what he believed was his doorbell chiming - only to find a woman disappearing into the flat next door.

After checking out the wire-less doorbell with the Leeds market stallholder who sold it to him, the bizarre situation started to become clear.

The £7.99 doorbell, made in China, operates on a single radio frequency, and was sending out the same signal as the almost identical doorbell next door.

When the button was pressed, it transmitted the same frequency to the receiver (the chime), activating the doorbell next door.

Mr Hargreaves, of Market Place, Cawood, installed the doorbell at his sister Beryl's flat in Laurie Backhouse Court, Selby, last week.

He has now reported the matter to North Yorkshire Trading Standards department, which is investigating.

Mr Hargreaves said: "I bought it in good faith as an independent unit. There's nothing to indicate that it could foul other people's frequencies.

"We had a laugh about it when we realised what was wrong, but for elderly people it's no joke.

"I went to trading standards because they are unusable if neighbours install them in flats or terraced houses."

He said he had now bought a £31 wire-free doorbell, which had four different frequencies to enable the user to switch to another frequency if it started to interfere with neighbours' bells.

North Yorkshire Trading Standards officer, Len Swift, said: "It's a bit like having a TV set which receives BBC and ITV at the same time.

"It works, but you could argue that it isn't fit for its purpose."

Mr Swift said he would be consulting the Leeds-based Radio Communications Agency and West Yorkshire Trading Standards department as part of his inquiries.

He could not say whether the doorbell complied with the law or not until he had completed his investigation.

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