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Half a million Christmas lights recalled

More than half a million sets of decorative lights sold by several UK retailers are being recalled because of fears they might be dangerous.

Retailers Safeway, Asda and Ikea have all appealed to people to stop using certain types of Christmas lights immediately.

The companies are concerned the products could cause electric shock or fire and say that people should stop using the products immediately.

Not all products have the same fault. The largest recall is by supermarket Asda from their Smartprice range although two other products are included in the list.

In a statement the company said, “Despite rigorous quality controls, Asda has been made aware of a fault with its Smartprice Indoor Christmas Lights, an Asda Tree-Topper and Asda 100 Double-Filament Lights. Some of the lights, on sale since September 2003, have been assembled with a faulty fuse bulb.”

The faulty fuse bulb could potentially allow the lights to overheat which could be a fire risk.

As a precautionary measure, Asda has withdrawn all these products and is urging customers who have bought any of them to remove them from display and return them to their nearest store as soon as possible.

All customers returning these products will be given a full refund and a £5 voucher.

Safeway decided to recall its red and clear 15m rope lights following a small number of complaints and customers are urged to return them to the nearest Safeway store for a refund.

The products were withdrawn from sale after it become apparent the decorations could feature a fault which may be a potential fire risk.

And furniture giant Ikea has called back its Strala tinsel tree lights after it emerged that tinsel could get into the sockets when bulbs were being changed, possibly causing electric shocks.

There have been no reports of any injuries or incidents, says the company in a statement, “Our customers' health and safety is our biggest concern therefore we kindly ask you to return this product to your nearest Ikea store.”

“If you have a Strala tinsel tree light, pull the plug and take down the tree lights,” continues the statement, “Please return them to your nearest Ikea store where you will receive a refund from Ikea in exchange for the product. If you cannot return the product to an Ikea store please make it unusable.”

Asda recall:

• ASDA Smartprice 20 Indoor Multicolour Fairy Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 40 Indoor Multicolour Fairy Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 20 Indoor Multicolour Fairy Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 20 Indoor Clear Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 80 Indoor Multicolour Fairy Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 50 Indoor Twinkling Multicolour Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 50 Indoor Twinkling Clear Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 40 Indoor Multicolour Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 40 Indoor Clear Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 200 Indoor Multicolour Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 200 Indoor Clear Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 100 Indoor Twinkling Multicolour Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 100 Indoor Twinkling Clear Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 100 Indoor Multicolour Lights
• ASDA Smartprice 100 Indoor Clear Lights
• ASDA 100 Indoor Double Filament Lights
• ASDA Star Tree Topper

Safeway recall:

• Red 15m rope lights
• Clear 15m rope lights

Ikea recall:

• Strala tinsel tree lights