:00:00. > :00:09.At this time of year, furniture retailers are doing big business.
:00:10. > :00:13.They're selling us sofas at massive discounts and mattresses at
:00:14. > :00:20.bargain-basement prices. There's one place with a double discount sale,
:00:21. > :00:25.SCS. A Harveys sale ad... Homebase, make a house a home. Finding the
:00:26. > :00:29.perfect gift has never been easier, we believe there's a better what I
:00:30. > :00:35.to shop online. But Fake Britain can reveal that SCS, Harveys, Argos,
:00:36. > :00:42.Homebase, Tesco direct and Amazon have been selling illegal, unsafe
:00:43. > :00:46.and potentially lethal furniture. This noncompliant furniture risks
:00:47. > :00:50.the lives of people in their homes. It's very, very dangerous indeed.
:00:51. > :00:54.Alarmingly, there are sofas and mattresses on sale throughout the
:00:55. > :00:58.country that could cause an inferno in your home in fewer than ten
:00:59. > :01:04.minutes. There are products out there which really are a death trap.
:01:05. > :01:09.Clearly, that has to be a worry. Many of the dangerous mattresses
:01:10. > :01:15.carry false fire resistant labels. This label confirms with the British
:01:16. > :01:17.standard. This label is fake. So why haven't any of Britain's biggest
:01:18. > :01:31.furniture retailers noticed? Our investigation began when we met
:01:32. > :01:37.Maria Houston, who purchased two dream sofas from an independent
:01:38. > :01:41.retailer in Bradford. These two couches were absolutely stunning. I
:01:42. > :01:46.just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the price as well. But when the
:01:47. > :01:50.sofas arrived, Maria was unhappy with the quality and the service
:01:51. > :01:54.she'd received. So she contacted Trading Standards. Officers in West
:01:55. > :01:58.Yorkshire began examining the type of sofa she had bought. They had no
:01:59. > :02:03.idea just what they were about to find out. We decided that we had
:02:04. > :02:08.real concerns about the safety, so we visited the premises and seized a
:02:09. > :02:13.sofa. We submitted it to our testing surface here who carried out the
:02:14. > :02:17.testing on the furniture. To see if sofa foam complies with the UK fire
:02:18. > :02:23.safety regulations, the law says it must be tested like this, a small
:02:24. > :02:25.wooden crib is ignited and if the sofa is safe, it shouldn't catch
:02:26. > :02:40.fire. When Trading Standards tested the
:02:41. > :02:44.sofa they'd seized, they made a shocking discovery. It failed the
:02:45. > :02:50.test. Not a little bit, but very badly. What you can see is that
:02:51. > :02:54.having lit the crib, it's already flaming away. What should happen is
:02:55. > :03:03.that the crib should go out. This is untreated foam, so it's away. After
:03:04. > :03:06.just two minutes, the fire has escalated dramatically. That would
:03:07. > :03:10.be out of control in a house. We have no idea just how many unsafe
:03:11. > :03:15.sofas like these are in West Yorkshire and beyond right now
:03:16. > :03:19.putting consumers' lives at risk. They have what the test house
:03:20. > :03:23.described as accelerating ignition, which to you or me is a fire ball,
:03:24. > :03:27.had it been in a house, near some curtains, it would have been a
:03:28. > :03:31.massive ignition source and would have burned the house down. Maria's
:03:32. > :03:37.sofas have never been tested. She's worried they may be unsafe. We
:03:38. > :03:44.showed her the test footage. That's unbelievable. God. If my grand kids
:03:45. > :03:50.were here and we had a fire, you'd think the worst, wouldn't you? I'm
:03:51. > :03:55.gutted. The consequences could be real danger for anybody, not just me
:03:56. > :03:59.and my grand kids or my niece and nephews, anybody. The independent
:04:00. > :04:04.retailer she bought them from had five shops in Yorkshire. They were
:04:05. > :04:09.successfully prosecuted and fined. Both Maria's sofas and both
:04:10. > :04:13.purchased by Trading Standards carried fire resistance labels
:04:14. > :04:20.claiming they met UK regulations. Fake Britain tried to contact
:04:21. > :04:24.I-Sleep Ltd for their comments. The stores remain closed and since
:04:25. > :04:31.January 8, the company is no longer in business. Could what happened in
:04:32. > :04:37.Yorkshire be happening elsewhere? Fake Britain has decided to find
:04:38. > :04:42.out. We joined Trading Standards in Leicester as they went to buy ten
:04:43. > :04:44.sofas at random from a wide selection of the best known High
:04:45. > :04:48.Street retailers and independent stores. They wanted to purchase a
:04:49. > :04:52.range of sofas for fire safety testing. Their plan was to discover
:04:53. > :04:58.whether or not they were safe. First on the list is Harveys. This is one
:04:59. > :05:03.of the UK's largest furniture retailers, with 150 stores
:05:04. > :05:06.nationwide. A Trading Standards officer buys a sofa available for
:05:07. > :05:10.collection straight away and it's taken away to their storage unit,
:05:11. > :05:16.before being sented for testing -- sent for testing. Next is SCS, or
:05:17. > :05:20.sofa carpet specialist, who have nearly 100 stores nationwide.
:05:21. > :05:26.Trading Standards pick a sofa, buy it and take it away. We wanted to
:05:27. > :05:29.check a range of different sized retailers. They will be tested under
:05:30. > :05:34.the correct standards to make sure that they are compliant with the
:05:35. > :05:38.safety regulations in regards to fire ignition tests. It should be
:05:39. > :05:43.inconceivable that any of these sofas could fail the legal tests,
:05:44. > :05:51.because in the 70s and 80s, after a series of deadly fires, new laws
:05:52. > :05:57.were passed to help protect us from dangerous furniture. In May 1979, a
:05:58. > :06:02.fire broke out at wool worths in the centre of Manchester. Fire crew as
:06:03. > :06:08.rived to find smoke -- -- crews arrived to find smoke billowing from
:06:09. > :06:13.the six-storey building. Bob Graham was one of the senior fire officers
:06:14. > :06:17.who responded on the day. What first struck me on arrival was the
:06:18. > :06:25.intensity of the fire and the amount of smoke that was coming out of the
:06:26. > :06:28.building. It was tremendous. There were approximately 500 people in the
:06:29. > :06:34.building at the time the fire started. So you can imagine the
:06:35. > :06:38.confusion. The situation turned to horror, as people were trapped
:06:39. > :06:42.behind bars in an office at the rear of the building. They were trapped.
:06:43. > :06:46.The fire was spreading across the floor. They couldn't open the door
:06:47. > :06:50.onto the remainder of the fire floor because they would have been killed
:06:51. > :06:53.instantly, with the heat that was in there.
:06:54. > :06:58.The urgent thing there was to get the bars off the window and get the
:06:59. > :07:01.people out. The crews did that very efficiently. The firemen went inside
:07:02. > :07:05.to reassure the people that they were going to be safe and gradually,
:07:06. > :07:12.they were brought down to the ground. Elsewhere in the building,
:07:13. > :07:18.ten people lost their lives and 47 were injured. The Coroner at the
:07:19. > :07:22.inquest said anyone who was on the second floor, three minutes after
:07:23. > :07:29.the fire started, was unlikely to escape. That's how fast the fire
:07:30. > :07:32.grew. Bob Graham, a key investigator, soon discovered that
:07:33. > :07:37.furniture was at the heart of the disaster. He became a leading figure
:07:38. > :07:42.in the campaign for tougher fire safety regulations and was awarded
:07:43. > :07:47.an MBE for his work. We reconstructed what was in wool
:07:48. > :07:51.worths -- Woolworth's, set fire to it and monitored the effects. That
:07:52. > :07:55.showed us that the furniture was the main contributor to this fire. The
:07:56. > :08:02.Woolworth's fire took ten lives. There were another 700 at that time
:08:03. > :08:07.dieing in their own homes throughout the UK. Campaigners persuaded the
:08:08. > :08:11.Government to change the law and now manufacturers are obliged to make
:08:12. > :08:16.furniture using fire resistant foam and materials in order to protect
:08:17. > :08:21.the consumer. Chief Fire Officer, Paul Fuller, from Bedfordshire Fire
:08:22. > :08:26.Rescue Service is president of the Chief Fire Officers Association and
:08:27. > :08:30.an expert in fire prevention. In 35 years in the Fire Service, I've seen
:08:31. > :08:35.the devastation caused by fires of all sorts and it is never a good
:08:36. > :08:43.thing. It is worsened, if the materials that are inside rooms burn
:08:44. > :08:47.more readily, such as noncompliant furniture. Paul knows just how
:08:48. > :08:52.dangerous a fire involving this furniture can be. The catastrophic
:08:53. > :08:55.effects are demonstrated by this living room fire test, carried out
:08:56. > :08:59.before the regulations came into force.
:09:00. > :09:04.Very, very quickly, the room in which that furniture is involved
:09:05. > :09:08.will become completely uninhabitable. You can't breathe.
:09:09. > :09:12.You can't see. It's too hot. You can't find your way around. And
:09:13. > :09:16.you're choking to death. Noncompliant furniture risks the
:09:17. > :09:26.lives of people in their homes. It's very, very dangerous indeed. The ten
:09:27. > :09:29.sofas purchased by Leicestershire Trading Standards have arrived at
:09:30. > :09:33.the West Yorkshire materials testing lab, which is fully accredited to
:09:34. > :09:36.carry out the legal tests. Samples of the foam fillings and cover
:09:37. > :09:42.fabrics from the sofas, including those from SCS and Harveys, are
:09:43. > :09:48.being prepared for testing. Each separate cover fabric has to pass
:09:49. > :09:54.what's called a match test. We apply a butane flame, at a specified gas
:09:55. > :09:58.flow rate for 20 seconds. Then it's removed. Within two minutes of its
:09:59. > :10:02.removal, flaming has to cease and there is to be no progressive
:10:03. > :10:07.smouldering. All the cover fabrics from the same SCS sofa are being
:10:08. > :10:13.tested. They must all pass the flapability tests for -- flammility
:10:14. > :10:17.tests for the sofa. This is the trim. The first application of the
:10:18. > :10:21.fame doesn't ignite the fabric. This may be because there is some fire
:10:22. > :10:28.retardant treatment. The regulations require a second attempt. And this
:10:29. > :10:35.time, it ignites. After one minute and 40 seconds, it's reached an
:10:36. > :10:39.unsafe level and has to be skinning wished. The second fabric, another
:10:40. > :10:45.trim from the arms of the SCS sofa, passes the 20-second match test.
:10:46. > :10:55.This is still not good news for SCS. Even if all the other components
:10:56. > :10:59.pass, there is a failure, because all parts must meet requirements.
:11:00. > :11:11.The main cover fabric is the final element to be tested. It ignites
:11:12. > :11:18.easily. The fire takes hold. Then at one minute and 40 seconds, it has to
:11:19. > :11:23.be extinguished. This sofa is illegal. You've just seen a sofa
:11:24. > :11:29.from a leading retailer fail. We showed the footage to fire expert
:11:30. > :11:34.Paul Fuller. The rapidity with which that furniture has caught fire is
:11:35. > :11:40.staggering. If you can imagine that over four or five minutes it's
:11:41. > :11:46.shocking. Two out of the three fabrics have failed. This means the
:11:47. > :11:53.sofa, from High Street retailer SCS, is illegal and dangerous. SCS told
:11:54. > :11:56.us the issue here was a failing by the company who apply the fire
:11:57. > :12:01.retardant material to the product. And this is something that must be
:12:02. > :12:07.addressed. The model Trading Standards tested was part of a small
:12:08. > :12:10.batch of 41. Should further testing of the batch in question give us any
:12:11. > :12:15.concerns we will recall that batch of products and will be contacting
:12:16. > :12:18.customers directly. They also said: Regular, independent testing is
:12:19. > :12:22.undertaken and all of the certificates we have for that model
:12:23. > :12:26.demonstrate that it meets the required standards. We ensure that
:12:27. > :12:32.we obtain independent fire certificates for all of our
:12:33. > :12:36.upholstery products. We will be implementing our own independent
:12:37. > :12:43.testing routines. Next, the sofa from Harveys. The
:12:44. > :12:48.faux leather trim fabric has passed the test. The main cream coloured
:12:49. > :12:55.fabric is the second and final test. The 20-second flame is applied. The
:12:56. > :12:59.fabric ignites and the fire quickly escalates. Already the build up of
:13:00. > :13:03.gases you can see in that room are going to make it very, very
:13:04. > :13:12.difficult environment indeed. That's new furniture. It's brand new and
:13:13. > :13:14.doesn't comply. With those vital life-saving regulations.
:13:15. > :13:20.Astonishingly another sofa has failed. Harveys had this to say:
:13:21. > :13:24."Harveys takes the safety of its products very seriously and have
:13:25. > :13:28.procedures in place to ensure its products meet all relevant safety
:13:29. > :13:34.standards. This matter is being investigated and we are unable to
:13:35. > :13:38.comment any further until we've concluded this.
:13:39. > :13:42.Fake Britain can reveal of the ten sofas purchased at random in
:13:43. > :13:54.Leicestershire, eight had failed and do not meet the required UK
:13:55. > :13:58.flammablity standards. So, alarmingly, ape number of leading
:13:59. > :14:01.retailers -- a number of leading retailers are selling sofas that
:14:02. > :14:07.don't comply with you're fire safety regulations. But it doesn't end
:14:08. > :14:12.there. It's not just sofas. Fake Britain has discovered
:14:13. > :14:16.dangerous, noncompliant memory foam mattresses which carry fake fire
:14:17. > :14:23.resistance labels and they're being sold in our high streets and online.
:14:24. > :14:28.Here in Lancashire, bed ministerer Silent Night have their own in-house
:14:29. > :14:32.test lab and carry out regular fire testing of all products they sell.
:14:33. > :14:36.They're going to demonstrate the importance of a safe mattress. There
:14:37. > :14:40.are products out there which really are a death trap in the consumer's
:14:41. > :14:44.home and clearly that has to be a concern, has to be a worry. That
:14:45. > :14:48.kind of product, we've got to stamp out of this market. Today we've
:14:49. > :14:52.joined them at Lancashire Fire Rescue Service to see how a safe and
:14:53. > :14:56.legal mattress should behave in the event of a fire, using one of their
:14:57. > :14:59.products as a demonstration. To simulate what would happen in the
:15:00. > :15:05.event of a house fire, the test has been set up like a real bedroom. We
:15:06. > :15:09.are going to use a wooden crib as the ignition source, which we will
:15:10. > :15:15.place on the centre of the mattress and set fire to it.
:15:16. > :15:18.The ignited crib burns steadily. Despite falling over, the foam
:15:19. > :15:24.filling of the mattress is not catching fire. And after two minutes
:15:25. > :15:30.and 43 seconds, the fire dies out. The wooden crib took two to three
:15:31. > :15:34.minutes to burn out, that's a compliant mattress. They then
:15:35. > :15:41.produced a second mattress from a xeter that they -- competitor that
:15:42. > :15:45.they suspect to be illegal. If the mattress fails the test, it's an
:15:46. > :15:50.illegal product on sale in the UK. But the label states that it is
:15:51. > :15:54.legal. The crib on the safe mattress burned
:15:55. > :15:59.out at two minutes and 43 seconds. But after the same period of time,
:16:00. > :16:04.fire has taken hold of the suspect mattress.
:16:05. > :16:10.After nearly six minutes, the mattress fire has filled the room
:16:11. > :16:16.with toxic smoke. More than half of all house fire fatalities are caused
:16:17. > :16:24.by smoke inhalation. Less than a minute later, the room has been
:16:25. > :16:29.engulfed by flames. The window explodes. The carpet, the curtains
:16:30. > :16:37.and the bed have been destroyed. The fire has reached approximately 1,000
:16:38. > :16:44.degrees. At nearly 11 minutes, it's an inferno. The small camera that
:16:45. > :16:47.we've been using to record a closer shot is too close to the fire. A
:16:48. > :16:52.fire officer recommends rescuing it from the heat of the blaze. And then
:16:53. > :16:56.a Fire Rescue Service officer steps in to distinguish the fire
:16:57. > :17:12.ball, as it's simply too dangerous to continue.
:17:13. > :17:19.Clearly in that situation, if there had been people in that property,
:17:20. > :17:23.then very clearly there would have been strong risk of fatalities. It
:17:24. > :17:26.would be so hot and so full of smoke and gas that it would be
:17:27. > :17:32.unsurvivable. In only about six minutes, it would be a terrifying
:17:33. > :17:36.place to be trapp in those probably last few minutes of survival.
:17:37. > :17:40.Shocking stuff. And it's unbelievable to think that despite
:17:41. > :17:47.the tough regulations that we have here in the UK, this was a product
:17:48. > :17:53.widely available for sale. To investigate further, Fake Britain
:17:54. > :17:58.went shopping. We decided to conduct our own tests by buying a series of
:17:59. > :18:03.rolled memory foam mattresses by Ventura, sold under the brand name
:18:04. > :18:08.Sleep Secrets from sleeping online and High Street retailers. We bought
:18:09. > :18:12.samples of the sleep secrets, cool gel and Napoli memory foam
:18:13. > :18:18.mattresses from Argos, Homebase, itesquo direct and Amazon -- Tesco
:18:19. > :18:24.direct and Amazon website. Prices ranged from ?140 to ?300. We took
:18:25. > :18:28.our mattresses to the Fira, the test lab in Hertfordshire. It's one of
:18:29. > :18:31.the UK's leading testing centres. They're able to test whether the
:18:32. > :18:36.mattresses are up to standard. Today, one of their experts is about
:18:37. > :18:45.to discover whether some of Britain's leading retailers have
:18:46. > :18:51.been selling illegal mattresses. The Sleep secrets comfort cool gel
:18:52. > :18:58.memory foam mattress from the Argos website is ignited. The foam ignites
:18:59. > :19:05.and burns steadily. Very quickly it represents a serious risk. After two
:19:06. > :19:12.minutes and 39 seconds, Steve switches on the fire distinguisher.
:19:13. > :19:19.-- extinguisher. The mattress has failed. This means Argos has sold an
:19:20. > :19:22.illegal product in the UK which is potentially lethal. Because the foam
:19:23. > :19:26.has failed, it's not legal to be sold as any part of furniture,
:19:27. > :19:31.whether it's a chair or a mattress. The foam is actually illegal for
:19:32. > :19:36.furniture use in the UK. Next it's the Sleep Secrets cool gel memory
:19:37. > :19:46.foam single mattress from Homebase. The crib test is ready to go. The
:19:47. > :19:49.mattress foam Iing noits. -- ignites. It's not long until it's
:19:50. > :19:55.reached the limit and the blaze is put outment -- out. This mattress
:19:56. > :20:02.has also failed the test. As a result, Homebase has sold an ellegal
:20:03. > :20:05.product. -- illegal product. If it was to catch fire, due to the rate
:20:06. > :20:08.the flames would develop and spread and the amount of smoke, it would
:20:09. > :20:12.make it very difficult for anybody to escape. Home Retail Group, who
:20:13. > :20:19.own Argos and Homebase, had this to say about the results of our tests:
:20:20. > :20:23."At Argos and Homebase our priority is our customers. We are very sorry
:20:24. > :20:28.for any concern this issue may cause. Along with other retailers,
:20:29. > :20:33.we've initiated an immediate product recall of the affected batches by
:20:34. > :20:36.Ventura, who will be writing to all affected customers to arrange
:20:37. > :20:41.collection of their mattress and we will offer a full refund or
:20:42. > :20:45.compliant replacement. We've also removed all affected mattresses from
:20:46. > :20:49.sale with immediate effect. We operate strict terms and conditions
:20:50. > :20:54.with suppliers, which state that all goods supplied to us must be legal
:20:55. > :20:57.and conform to the relevant legislation. We are deeply
:20:58. > :21:03.disappointed and concerned about this clear failure by Ventura and
:21:04. > :21:09.are taking urgent action at the highest levels."
:21:10. > :21:14.Next to be tested is a Sleep Secrets 15 cms Celsius cool gel memory foam
:21:15. > :21:20.mattress that we bought from Tesco direct. The crib is ignited again.
:21:21. > :21:29.And yet again, our test shows strieghtening quick ack --
:21:30. > :21:34.frighteningly quick acceleration of the fire. The mattress has failed.
:21:35. > :21:39.Tesco direct has sold an illegal product. They told us: "We have very
:21:40. > :21:43.high standards for the items we sell and are urgently investigating with
:21:44. > :21:47.the brand supplier. We have only sold one of these items and have
:21:48. > :21:51.suspended the product from sale. We will be taking action with the
:21:52. > :21:59.supplier once our investigations are completed. "
:22:00. > :22:03.Next up, it's a Sleep Secrets 18 cms Napoli mattress purchased from
:22:04. > :22:14.Amazon. This is the fourth and final mattress that we have tested. This
:22:15. > :22:20.mattress also fails. Shockingly, Argos, Homebase, Tesco direct and
:22:21. > :22:26.Amazon have all sold an illegal product throughout the whole of the
:22:27. > :22:29.UK. Amazon told Fake Britain: "At Amazon we're committed to providing
:22:30. > :22:33.customers with the best possible shopping experience and have an
:22:34. > :22:38.established process in place which enables third parties, including
:22:39. > :22:42.rights holders, to provide us with notice of infringements or
:22:43. > :22:46.noncompliant product. We respond rapidly to any such notice,
:22:47. > :22:52.including removal of any such items." All four Sleep Secrets
:22:53. > :22:57.memory foam mattresses have failed the UK legal tests. We sent our test
:22:58. > :23:02.results to the UK supplier, Ventura Corporation and they told us:
:23:03. > :23:06."Ventura Corporation is a responsible and ethical business and
:23:07. > :23:11.has been trading for nearly 30 years. We have an unblemished record
:23:12. > :23:15.of trading with many of the largest retailers in the UK. We have been
:23:16. > :23:20.made aware by the programme makers that there is an issue with a
:23:21. > :23:23.limited number of Sleep Secrets branded mattresses which originate
:23:24. > :23:27.from a single, previously reliable supplier. We are conducted a
:23:28. > :23:31.vigorous investigation. We will conduct further testing and will be
:23:32. > :23:35.in contact with all customers who we can ascertain are in possession of
:23:36. > :23:39.any mattresses which may be affected. We will seek to offer
:23:40. > :23:44.affected customers a satisfactory resolution. "
:23:45. > :23:49.It's clear, the bed industry could be facing a big problem. We spoke to
:23:50. > :23:55.Jessica Alexander from the national bed federation to find out more. In
:23:56. > :23:58.the last few years, because of the recession, we've seen more
:23:59. > :24:03.manufacturers perhaps try and cut corners in order to reduce their
:24:04. > :24:08.prices. Therefore we do feel that it has become more of an issue for
:24:09. > :24:13.consumers to be taken in by products which aren't quite what they say
:24:14. > :24:18.they are. All of the Sleep Secrets mattresses we bought are made in
:24:19. > :24:21.China. We all carried fire resistance labels. To check out the
:24:22. > :24:29.authenticity of the label, we took them to the British standards
:24:30. > :24:34.institute. This label conforms with the British standard. This label is
:24:35. > :24:38.fake. Anybody who knows anything about the labels should have noticed
:24:39. > :24:43.there was a problem. We look at these two labels, if we measure this
:24:44. > :24:46.one, it should be at least 50 millimetres by 50 millimetres. A
:24:47. > :24:52.white background with a blue border around it and it should have the
:24:53. > :24:56.word "resistant" across the blue boreder in white lettering, which
:24:57. > :24:59.should be at least five millimetres in size. Any writings and die grams
:25:00. > :25:04.on the label should appear in the white box and should all be black.
:25:05. > :25:11.This one is considerably smaller. It's less than 50 millimetres by 50
:25:12. > :25:16.millimetres. The blue pictures are wrong. The size is wrong. And the
:25:17. > :25:22.use of this number is wrong. Yet, it seems that no-one at Argos,
:25:23. > :25:28.Homebase, Tesco Direct or Amazon noticed. The label could deceive
:25:29. > :25:32.British consumers into buying an unsafe mattress. Why hasn't the
:25:33. > :25:37.retailer or the supplier noticed that these labels are fake? After
:25:38. > :25:41.all, the retailer has a legal responsibility to make sure that
:25:42. > :25:47.everything they sell complies with the law. We asked the retailers and
:25:48. > :25:50.suppliers to comment. Tesco told us, "We're sorry that the product was
:25:51. > :25:55.incorrectly labelled and did not meet the requirements of the
:25:56. > :25:59.regulations." Home Retail Group for oar gas and Homebase told us, "On
:26:00. > :26:03.learning of these claims, Argos and Homebase immediately launched an
:26:04. > :26:09.urgent, top-level investigation with Ventura, in which independent tests
:26:10. > :26:15.confirmed that the Sleep Secrets mattresses did not confirm to BS
:26:16. > :26:21.7177. The tests revealed that the mattress labels were genuine having
:26:22. > :26:24.been applied by the supplier during manufacturing. But the label
:26:25. > :26:28.information did not comply with the mattresses sold. Amazon did not
:26:29. > :26:32.respond on this point. Ventura corporation, the supplier,
:26:33. > :26:35.told us: "We're investigating an issue concerning the accuracy of
:26:36. > :26:40.information shown on the mattress labels. We have never been advised
:26:41. > :26:45.by any independent testers that the labels are incorrect, but we're now
:26:46. > :26:49.working, according to the flammablity standard with
:26:50. > :26:55.independent test laboratories to ensure the future accuracy of
:26:56. > :26:58.labelling. The labels are not fake. It's the manufacturer who is
:26:59. > :27:01.responsible for testing the products, but the retailer is
:27:02. > :27:06.obliged to check that furniture that they sell is safe. The question
:27:07. > :27:10.should be asked of that retailer, are they being diligent enough in
:27:11. > :27:14.terms of vetting their supplier base to ensure they are conforming
:27:15. > :27:18.totally with the legal requirements of products they sell to the
:27:19. > :27:23.consumer. At the end of the day, the buck would stop with that retailer.
:27:24. > :27:29.The fact that SCS, Harveys, Argos, Homebase, Tesco Direct and Amazon
:27:30. > :27:32.have been selling illegal furniture in the UK shocks a leading
:27:33. > :27:38.campaigner in fire safety, who thought this problem had been solved
:27:39. > :27:43.over 25 years ago. To find that people are selling hazardous
:27:44. > :27:48.furniture to the general public, particularly when they have a
:27:49. > :27:53.reputation, I mean, that's reprehensible. No-one knows just how
:27:54. > :27:57.many dangerous sofas and mattresses there are on sale and in UK homes
:27:58. > :28:03.right now. The whole purpose of the regulations
:28:04. > :28:08.were to drive down the risk of fires killing people in their homes. To go
:28:09. > :28:12.back to that, would be completely heinous. We have to do everything we
:28:13. > :28:16.can to ensure that we don't. You have concerns about products shown
:28:17. > :28:18.in this programme, contact your retailer. Homebase and Argos have
:28:19. > :28:35.told us you can call: contact your local Trading Standards
:28:36. > :28:42.as well.