TO mark the start of Gas Safety Week (15 – 21 September), new research released today has revealed at least 6,000 homes across the South West have escaped deadly gas incidents, such as explosions, fires and carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning, in the last year.

The research carried out among Gas Safe registered engineers revealed that over half (57 per cent) found a dangerous gas boiler, cooker or fire in a customer’s home in the last year that needed turning off immediately.

Around half (45 per cent) of these dangerous appliances were attributed to the fact that people had failed to get their gas appliance regularly serviced and had been left in a poor state.

Gas Safe Register has inspected 14,436 homes in the South West in the past four years and found unsafe gas appliances lurking in one in six homes.

Bristol was the most dangerous area in the region with one in five homes unsafe, followed by Gloucestershire (one in six homes unsafe), Plymouth (one in seven homes unsafe), Bournemouth (one in seven homes unsafe), Swindon (one in seven homes unsafe) and Southampton (one in 13 homes unsafe).

In addition, Wales and West Utilities found over 5,400 unsafe gas appliances at emergency callouts attended in just the last year across the region.

Russell Kramer, chief executive for Gas Safe Register, said: “Over the past three years there’s been 31 deaths and over 1,000 injuries that have resulted from gas related incidents.

"However, listening to our engineers tell us about the situations they face on a daily basis and hearing just how many life-threatening incidents they prevent, it’s surprising there haven’t been more. It shows what a great job registered engineer’s do, but at the same time the public also has an important role in gas safety.

"An engineer can only help keep you safe if they are invited into your home to check your gas appliances. It’s therefore your responsibility to make sure you stay safe by regularly getting your appliances safety checked by a registered engineer.”

Last year, Gas Safe Register launched the first ever interactive gas map - www.StayGasSafe.co.uk - which tells people how safe or unsafe their area is when it comes to gas by simply entering their post code. People can also sign up to a free gas safety check reminder service which will alert them when their gas appliances need checking.

Russell continued: “We want to make it easy for people to stay gas safe.

Over 150,000 people used the gas map in the last year, and many signed up to the reminder service. We hope to see thousands more use these tools during and beyond Gas Safety Week this year to reduce the number of dangerous gas appliances that are lurking in homes and live in a safer Britain.”