Special: Furniture Inferno Fake Britain


Special: Furniture Inferno

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At this time of year, furniture retailers are doing big business.

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They're selling us sofas at massive discounts and mattresses at

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bargain-basement prices. There's one place with a double discount sale,

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SCS. A Harveys sale ad... Homebase, make a house a home. Finding the

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perfect gift has never been easier, we believe there's a better what I

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to shop online. But Fake Britain can reveal that SCS, Harveys, Argos,

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Homebase, Tesco direct and Amazon have been selling illegal, unsafe

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and potentially lethal furniture. This noncompliant furniture risks

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the lives of people in their homes. It's very, very dangerous indeed.

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Alarmingly, there are sofas and mattresses on sale throughout the

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country that could cause an inferno in your home in fewer than ten

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minutes. There are products out there which really are a death trap.

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Clearly, that has to be a worry. Many of the dangerous mattresses

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carry false fire resistant labels. This label confirms with the British

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standard. This label is fake. So why haven't any of Britain's biggest

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furniture retailers noticed? Our investigation began when we met

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Maria Houston, who purchased two dream sofas from an independent

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retailer in Bradford. These two couches were absolutely stunning. I

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just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw the price as well. But when the

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sofas arrived, Maria was unhappy with the quality and the service

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she'd received. So she contacted Trading Standards. Officers in West

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Yorkshire began examining the type of sofa she had bought. They had no

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idea just what they were about to find out. We decided that we had

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real concerns about the safety, so we visited the premises and seized a

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sofa. We submitted it to our testing surface here who carried out the

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testing on the furniture. To see if sofa foam complies with the UK fire

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safety regulations, the law says it must be tested like this, a small

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wooden crib is ignited and if the sofa is safe, it shouldn't catch

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fire. When Trading Standards tested the

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sofa they'd seized, they made a shocking discovery. It failed the

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test. Not a little bit, but very badly. What you can see is that

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having lit the crib, it's already flaming away. What should happen is

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that the crib should go out. This is untreated foam, so it's away. After

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just two minutes, the fire has escalated dramatically. That would

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be out of control in a house. We have no idea just how many unsafe

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sofas like these are in West Yorkshire and beyond right now

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putting consumers' lives at risk. They have what the test house

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described as accelerating ignition, which to you or me is a fire ball,

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had it been in a house, near some curtains, it would have been a

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massive ignition source and would have burned the house down. Maria's

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sofas have never been tested. She's worried they may be unsafe. We

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showed her the test footage. That's unbelievable. God. If my grand kids

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were here and we had a fire, you'd think the worst, wouldn't you? I'm

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gutted. The consequences could be real danger for anybody, not just me

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and my grand kids or my niece and nephews, anybody. The independent

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retailer she bought them from had five shops in Yorkshire. They were

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successfully prosecuted and fined. Both Maria's sofas and both

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purchased by Trading Standards carried fire resistance labels

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claiming they met UK regulations. Fake Britain tried to contact

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I-Sleep Ltd for their comments. The stores remain closed and since

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January 8, the company is no longer in business. Could what happened in

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Yorkshire be happening elsewhere? Fake Britain has decided to find

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out. We joined Trading Standards in Leicester as they went to buy ten

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sofas at random from a wide selection of the best known High

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Street retailers and independent stores. They wanted to purchase a

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range of sofas for fire safety testing. Their plan was to discover

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whether or not they were safe. First on the list is Harveys. This is one

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of the UK's largest furniture retailers, with 150 stores

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nationwide. A Trading Standards officer buys a sofa available for

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collection straight away and it's taken away to their storage unit,

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before being sented for testing -- sent for testing. Next is SCS, or

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sofa carpet specialist, who have nearly 100 stores nationwide.

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Trading Standards pick a sofa, buy it and take it away. We wanted to

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check a range of different sized retailers. They will be tested under

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the correct standards to make sure that they are compliant with the

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safety regulations in regards to fire ignition tests. It should be

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inconceivable that any of these sofas could fail the legal tests,

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because in the 70s and 80s, after a series of deadly fires, new laws

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were passed to help protect us from dangerous furniture. In May 1979, a

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fire broke out at wool worths in the centre of Manchester. Fire crew as

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rived to find smoke -- -- crews arrived to find smoke billowing from

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the six-storey building. Bob Graham was one of the senior fire officers

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who responded on the day. What first struck me on arrival was the

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intensity of the fire and the amount of smoke that was coming out of the

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building. It was tremendous. There were approximately 500 people in the

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building at the time the fire started. So you can imagine the

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confusion. The situation turned to horror, as people were trapped

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behind bars in an office at the rear of the building. They were trapped.

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The fire was spreading across the floor. They couldn't open the door

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onto the remainder of the fire floor because they would have been killed

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instantly, with the heat that was in there.

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The urgent thing there was to get the bars off the window and get the

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people out. The crews did that very efficiently. The firemen went inside

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to reassure the people that they were going to be safe and gradually,

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they were brought down to the ground. Elsewhere in the building,

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ten people lost their lives and 47 were injured. The Coroner at the

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inquest said anyone who was on the second floor, three minutes after

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the fire started, was unlikely to escape. That's how fast the fire

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grew. Bob Graham, a key investigator, soon discovered that

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furniture was at the heart of the disaster. He became a leading figure

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in the campaign for tougher fire safety regulations and was awarded

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an MBE for his work. We reconstructed what was in wool

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worths -- Woolworth's, set fire to it and monitored the effects. That

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showed us that the furniture was the main contributor to this fire. The

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Woolworth's fire took ten lives. There were another 700 at that time

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dieing in their own homes throughout the UK. Campaigners persuaded the

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Government to change the law and now manufacturers are obliged to make

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furniture using fire resistant foam and materials in order to protect

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the consumer. Chief Fire Officer, Paul Fuller, from Bedfordshire Fire

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Rescue Service is president of the Chief Fire Officers Association and

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an expert in fire prevention. In 35 years in the Fire Service, I've seen

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the devastation caused by fires of all sorts and it is never a good

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thing. It is worsened, if the materials that are inside rooms burn

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more readily, such as noncompliant furniture. Paul knows just how

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dangerous a fire involving this furniture can be. The catastrophic

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effects are demonstrated by this living room fire test, carried out

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before the regulations came into force.

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Very, very quickly, the room in which that furniture is involved

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will become completely uninhabitable. You can't breathe.

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You can't see. It's too hot. You can't find your way around. And

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you're choking to death. Noncompliant furniture risks the

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lives of people in their homes. It's very, very dangerous indeed. The ten

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sofas purchased by Leicestershire Trading Standards have arrived at

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the West Yorkshire materials testing lab, which is fully accredited to

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carry out the legal tests. Samples of the foam fillings and cover

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fabrics from the sofas, including those from SCS and Harveys, are

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being prepared for testing. Each separate cover fabric has to pass

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what's called a match test. We apply a butane flame, at a specified gas

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flow rate for 20 seconds. Then it's removed. Within two minutes of its

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removal, flaming has to cease and there is to be no progressive

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smouldering. All the cover fabrics from the same SCS sofa are being

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tested. They must all pass the flapability tests for -- flammility

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tests for the sofa. This is the trim. The first application of the

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fame doesn't ignite the fabric. This may be because there is some fire

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retardant treatment. The regulations require a second attempt. And this

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time, it ignites. After one minute and 40 seconds, it's reached an

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unsafe level and has to be skinning wished. The second fabric, another

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trim from the arms of the SCS sofa, passes the 20-second match test.

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This is still not good news for SCS. Even if all the other components

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pass, there is a failure, because all parts must meet requirements.

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The main cover fabric is the final element to be tested. It ignites

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easily. The fire takes hold. Then at one minute and 40 seconds, it has to

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be extinguished. This sofa is illegal. You've just seen a sofa

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from a leading retailer fail. We showed the footage to fire expert

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Paul Fuller. The rapidity with which that furniture has caught fire is

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staggering. If you can imagine that over four or five minutes it's

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shocking. Two out of the three fabrics have failed. This means the

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sofa, from High Street retailer SCS, is illegal and dangerous. SCS told

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us the issue here was a failing by the company who apply the fire

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retardant material to the product. And this is something that must be

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addressed. The model Trading Standards tested was part of a small

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batch of 41. Should further testing of the batch in question give us any

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concerns we will recall that batch of products and will be contacting

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customers directly. They also said: Regular, independent testing is

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undertaken and all of the certificates we have for that model

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demonstrate that it meets the required standards. We ensure that

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we obtain independent fire certificates for all of our

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upholstery products. We will be implementing our own independent

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testing routines. Next, the sofa from Harveys. The

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faux leather trim fabric has passed the test. The main cream coloured

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fabric is the second and final test. The 20-second flame is applied. The

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fabric ignites and the fire quickly escalates. Already the build up of

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gases you can see in that room are going to make it very, very

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difficult environment indeed. That's new furniture. It's brand new and

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doesn't comply. With those vital life-saving regulations.

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Astonishingly another sofa has failed. Harveys had this to say:

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"Harveys takes the safety of its products very seriously and have

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procedures in place to ensure its products meet all relevant safety

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standards. This matter is being investigated and we are unable to

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comment any further until we've concluded this.

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Fake Britain can reveal of the ten sofas purchased at random in

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Leicestershire, eight had failed and do not meet the required UK

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flammablity standards. So, alarmingly, ape number of leading

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retailers -- a number of leading retailers are selling sofas that

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don't comply with you're fire safety regulations. But it doesn't end

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there. It's not just sofas. Fake Britain has discovered

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dangerous, noncompliant memory foam mattresses which carry fake fire

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resistance labels and they're being sold in our high streets and online.

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Here in Lancashire, bed ministerer Silent Night have their own in-house

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test lab and carry out regular fire testing of all products they sell.

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They're going to demonstrate the importance of a safe mattress. There

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are products out there which really are a death trap in the consumer's

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home and clearly that has to be a concern, has to be a worry. That

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kind of product, we've got to stamp out of this market. Today we've

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joined them at Lancashire Fire Rescue Service to see how a safe and

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legal mattress should behave in the event of a fire, using one of their

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products as a demonstration. To simulate what would happen in the

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event of a house fire, the test has been set up like a real bedroom. We

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are going to use a wooden crib as the ignition source, which we will

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place on the centre of the mattress and set fire to it.

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The ignited crib burns steadily. Despite falling over, the foam

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filling of the mattress is not catching fire. And after two minutes

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and 43 seconds, the fire dies out. The wooden crib took two to three

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minutes to burn out, that's a compliant mattress. They then

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produced a second mattress from a xeter that they -- competitor that

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they suspect to be illegal. If the mattress fails the test, it's an

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illegal product on sale in the UK. But the label states that it is

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legal. The crib on the safe mattress burned

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out at two minutes and 43 seconds. But after the same period of time,

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fire has taken hold of the suspect mattress.

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After nearly six minutes, the mattress fire has filled the room

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with toxic smoke. More than half of all house fire fatalities are caused

:16:11.:16:16.

by smoke inhalation. Less than a minute later, the room has been

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engulfed by flames. The window explodes. The carpet, the curtains

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and the bed have been destroyed. The fire has reached approximately 1,000

:16:30.:16:37.

degrees. At nearly 11 minutes, it's an inferno. The small camera that

:16:38.:16:44.

we've been using to record a closer shot is too close to the fire. A

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fire officer recommends rescuing it from the heat of the blaze. And then

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a Fire Rescue Service officer steps in to distinguish the fire

:16:53.:16:56.

ball, as it's simply too dangerous to continue.

:16:57.:17:12.

Clearly in that situation, if there had been people in that property,

:17:13.:17:19.

then very clearly there would have been strong risk of fatalities. It

:17:20.:17:23.

would be so hot and so full of smoke and gas that it would be

:17:24.:17:26.

unsurvivable. In only about six minutes, it would be a terrifying

:17:27.:17:32.

place to be trapp in those probably last few minutes of survival.

:17:33.:17:36.

Shocking stuff. And it's unbelievable to think that despite

:17:37.:17:40.

the tough regulations that we have here in the UK, this was a product

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widely available for sale. To investigate further, Fake Britain

:17:48.:17:53.

went shopping. We decided to conduct our own tests by buying a series of

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rolled memory foam mattresses by Ventura, sold under the brand name

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Sleep Secrets from sleeping online and High Street retailers. We bought

:18:04.:18:08.

samples of the sleep secrets, cool gel and Napoli memory foam

:18:09.:18:12.

mattresses from Argos, Homebase, itesquo direct and Amazon -- Tesco

:18:13.:18:18.

direct and Amazon website. Prices ranged from ?140 to ?300. We took

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our mattresses to the Fira, the test lab in Hertfordshire. It's one of

:18:25.:18:28.

the UK's leading testing centres. They're able to test whether the

:18:29.:18:31.

mattresses are up to standard. Today, one of their experts is about

:18:32.:18:36.

to discover whether some of Britain's leading retailers have

:18:37.:18:45.

been selling illegal mattresses. The Sleep secrets comfort cool gel

:18:46.:18:51.

memory foam mattress from the Argos website is ignited. The foam ignites

:18:52.:18:58.

and burns steadily. Very quickly it represents a serious risk. After two

:18:59.:19:05.

minutes and 39 seconds, Steve switches on the fire distinguisher.

:19:06.:19:12.

-- extinguisher. The mattress has failed. This means Argos has sold an

:19:13.:19:19.

illegal product in the UK which is potentially lethal. Because the foam

:19:20.:19:22.

has failed, it's not legal to be sold as any part of furniture,

:19:23.:19:26.

whether it's a chair or a mattress. The foam is actually illegal for

:19:27.:19:31.

furniture use in the UK. Next it's the Sleep Secrets cool gel memory

:19:32.:19:36.

foam single mattress from Homebase. The crib test is ready to go. The

:19:37.:19:46.

mattress foam Iing noits. -- ignites. It's not long until it's

:19:47.:19:49.

reached the limit and the blaze is put outment -- out. This mattress

:19:50.:19:55.

has also failed the test. As a result, Homebase has sold an ellegal

:19:56.:20:02.

product. -- illegal product. If it was to catch fire, due to the rate

:20:03.:20:05.

the flames would develop and spread and the amount of smoke, it would

:20:06.:20:08.

make it very difficult for anybody to escape. Home Retail Group, who

:20:09.:20:12.

own Argos and Homebase, had this to say about the results of our tests:

:20:13.:20:19.

"At Argos and Homebase our priority is our customers. We are very sorry

:20:20.:20:23.

for any concern this issue may cause. Along with other retailers,

:20:24.:20:28.

we've initiated an immediate product recall of the affected batches by

:20:29.:20:33.

Ventura, who will be writing to all affected customers to arrange

:20:34.:20:36.

collection of their mattress and we will offer a full refund or

:20:37.:20:41.

compliant replacement. We've also removed all affected mattresses from

:20:42.:20:45.

sale with immediate effect. We operate strict terms and conditions

:20:46.:20:49.

with suppliers, which state that all goods supplied to us must be legal

:20:50.:20:54.

and conform to the relevant legislation. We are deeply

:20:55.:20:57.

disappointed and concerned about this clear failure by Ventura and

:20:58.:21:03.

are taking urgent action at the highest levels."

:21:04.:21:09.

Next to be tested is a Sleep Secrets 15 cms Celsius cool gel memory foam

:21:10.:21:14.

mattress that we bought from Tesco direct. The crib is ignited again.

:21:15.:21:20.

And yet again, our test shows strieghtening quick ack --

:21:21.:21:29.

frighteningly quick acceleration of the fire. The mattress has failed.

:21:30.:21:34.

Tesco direct has sold an illegal product. They told us: "We have very

:21:35.:21:39.

high standards for the items we sell and are urgently investigating with

:21:40.:21:43.

the brand supplier. We have only sold one of these items and have

:21:44.:21:47.

suspended the product from sale. We will be taking action with the

:21:48.:21:51.

supplier once our investigations are completed. "

:21:52.:21:59.

Next up, it's a Sleep Secrets 18 cms Napoli mattress purchased from

:22:00.:22:03.

Amazon. This is the fourth and final mattress that we have tested. This

:22:04.:22:14.

mattress also fails. Shockingly, Argos, Homebase, Tesco direct and

:22:15.:22:20.

Amazon have all sold an illegal product throughout the whole of the

:22:21.:22:26.

UK. Amazon told Fake Britain: "At Amazon we're committed to providing

:22:27.:22:29.

customers with the best possible shopping experience and have an

:22:30.:22:33.

established process in place which enables third parties, including

:22:34.:22:38.

rights holders, to provide us with notice of infringements or

:22:39.:22:42.

noncompliant product. We respond rapidly to any such notice,

:22:43.:22:46.

including removal of any such items." All four Sleep Secrets

:22:47.:22:52.

memory foam mattresses have failed the UK legal tests. We sent our test

:22:53.:22:57.

results to the UK supplier, Ventura Corporation and they told us:

:22:58.:23:02.

"Ventura Corporation is a responsible and ethical business and

:23:03.:23:06.

has been trading for nearly 30 years. We have an unblemished record

:23:07.:23:11.

of trading with many of the largest retailers in the UK. We have been

:23:12.:23:15.

made aware by the programme makers that there is an issue with a

:23:16.:23:20.

limited number of Sleep Secrets branded mattresses which originate

:23:21.:23:23.

from a single, previously reliable supplier. We are conducted a

:23:24.:23:27.

vigorous investigation. We will conduct further testing and will be

:23:28.:23:31.

in contact with all customers who we can ascertain are in possession of

:23:32.:23:35.

any mattresses which may be affected. We will seek to offer

:23:36.:23:39.

affected customers a satisfactory resolution. "

:23:40.:23:44.

It's clear, the bed industry could be facing a big problem. We spoke to

:23:45.:23:49.

Jessica Alexander from the national bed federation to find out more. In

:23:50.:23:55.

the last few years, because of the recession, we've seen more

:23:56.:23:58.

manufacturers perhaps try and cut corners in order to reduce their

:23:59.:24:03.

prices. Therefore we do feel that it has become more of an issue for

:24:04.:24:08.

consumers to be taken in by products which aren't quite what they say

:24:09.:24:13.

they are. All of the Sleep Secrets mattresses we bought are made in

:24:14.:24:18.

China. We all carried fire resistance labels. To check out the

:24:19.:24:21.

authenticity of the label, we took them to the British standards

:24:22.:24:29.

institute. This label conforms with the British standard. This label is

:24:30.:24:34.

fake. Anybody who knows anything about the labels should have noticed

:24:35.:24:38.

there was a problem. We look at these two labels, if we measure this

:24:39.:24:43.

one, it should be at least 50 millimetres by 50 millimetres. A

:24:44.:24:46.

white background with a blue border around it and it should have the

:24:47.:24:52.

word "resistant" across the blue boreder in white lettering, which

:24:53.:24:56.

should be at least five millimetres in size. Any writings and die grams

:24:57.:24:59.

on the label should appear in the white box and should all be black.

:25:00.:25:04.

This one is considerably smaller. It's less than 50 millimetres by 50

:25:05.:25:11.

millimetres. The blue pictures are wrong. The size is wrong. And the

:25:12.:25:16.

use of this number is wrong. Yet, it seems that no-one at Argos,

:25:17.:25:22.

Homebase, Tesco Direct or Amazon noticed. The label could deceive

:25:23.:25:28.

British consumers into buying an unsafe mattress. Why hasn't the

:25:29.:25:32.

retailer or the supplier noticed that these labels are fake? After

:25:33.:25:37.

all, the retailer has a legal responsibility to make sure that

:25:38.:25:41.

everything they sell complies with the law. We asked the retailers and

:25:42.:25:47.

suppliers to comment. Tesco told us, "We're sorry that the product was

:25:48.:25:50.

incorrectly labelled and did not meet the requirements of the

:25:51.:25:55.

regulations." Home Retail Group for oar gas and Homebase told us, "On

:25:56.:25:59.

learning of these claims, Argos and Homebase immediately launched an

:26:00.:26:03.

urgent, top-level investigation with Ventura, in which independent tests

:26:04.:26:09.

confirmed that the Sleep Secrets mattresses did not confirm to BS

:26:10.:26:15.

7177. The tests revealed that the mattress labels were genuine having

:26:16.:26:21.

been applied by the supplier during manufacturing. But the label

:26:22.:26:24.

information did not comply with the mattresses sold. Amazon did not

:26:25.:26:28.

respond on this point. Ventura corporation, the supplier,

:26:29.:26:32.

told us: "We're investigating an issue concerning the accuracy of

:26:33.:26:35.

information shown on the mattress labels. We have never been advised

:26:36.:26:40.

by any independent testers that the labels are incorrect, but we're now

:26:41.:26:45.

working, according to the flammablity standard with

:26:46.:26:49.

independent test laboratories to ensure the future accuracy of

:26:50.:26:55.

labelling. The labels are not fake. It's the manufacturer who is

:26:56.:26:58.

responsible for testing the products, but the retailer is

:26:59.:27:01.

obliged to check that furniture that they sell is safe. The question

:27:02.:27:06.

should be asked of that retailer, are they being diligent enough in

:27:07.:27:10.

terms of vetting their supplier base to ensure they are conforming

:27:11.:27:14.

totally with the legal requirements of products they sell to the

:27:15.:27:18.

consumer. At the end of the day, the buck would stop with that retailer.

:27:19.:27:23.

The fact that SCS, Harveys, Argos, Homebase, Tesco Direct and Amazon

:27:24.:27:29.

have been selling illegal furniture in the UK shocks a leading

:27:30.:27:32.

campaigner in fire safety, who thought this problem had been solved

:27:33.:27:38.

over 25 years ago. To find that people are selling hazardous

:27:39.:27:43.

furniture to the general public, particularly when they have a

:27:44.:27:48.

reputation, I mean, that's reprehensible. No-one knows just how

:27:49.:27:53.

many dangerous sofas and mattresses there are on sale and in UK homes

:27:54.:27:57.

right now. The whole purpose of the regulations

:27:58.:28:03.

were to drive down the risk of fires killing people in their homes. To go

:28:04.:28:08.

back to that, would be completely heinous. We have to do everything we

:28:09.:28:12.

can to ensure that we don't. You have concerns about products shown

:28:13.:28:16.

in this programme, contact your retailer. Homebase and Argos have

:28:17.:28:18.

told us you can call: contact your local Trading Standards

:28:19.:28:35.

as well.

:28:36.:28:42.

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