A WARNING has been issued after a mobile phone charger bought at Bowleaze market exploded.

Dorset County Council’s trading standards service is warning residents about the safe use of electrical chargers following the incident at a house in Weymouth.

Gary Lewington, 53, from Chelmsford Street in Weymouth, bought the charger for his 19-year-old daughter Mia’s mobile phone last summer at Bowleaze market.

Last week she put her phone on charge and after one minute smoke came out of the charger, there was a flash and a loud bang and the back of the plug was fired across the room, leaving scorch marks and flames coming out of the wall socket.

Mr Lewington said it was ‘lucky’ his daughter was there as he would have been asleep at the time the plug caught on fire: “We have definitely had a lucky escape. Last time we used it we left it plugged in all night. If no-one was in the room to see it happen it would have caused quite a serious fire.”

He added: “If something had happened I would have thought it was my fault. I will never buy another electrical component if it isn’t from a reputable retailer.” Daughter Mia said: “It happened so quickly. I’m very glad that I wasn’t still fiddling with the plug to check it was in, and that I was stood back, because it could have caused serious injuries.

Richard Herringshaw, a principal trading standards officer with Dorset County Council, said: “We would like to hear from anyone who believes they have a similar wall socket to USB charger as we need more information to trace the chain of supply in this case and we do have concerns about the design of this item.

“This particular product was marked “Emerson Network Power Model A1299” on the plug face but also appears to have an error on the safety mark used as it states “SAEETY”. It also has a CE mark. It was sold without any instructions.”

Anyone with further information to report or who has a charger with these specific markings should stop using it and contact the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 03454 04 05 06, which is the first point of contact for any consumer problems.

The trading standards service recommends that general caution is needed when buying and using any charger, and is advising consumers to: l Only buy chargers that have warnings and instructions.

  • Ensure there is a manufacturer’s or importer’s brand name/logo and their address is supplied with chargers.
  • Check for a model and batch number that should either be on the charger itself or on the packaging.
  • Obtain a receipt in case of problems later.
  • Only use a charger that is designed for the product being charged whether it be a plug style charger or a USB charger.

Never leave items charging unattended.