GOVERNMENT action to get faulty and potentially dangerous white goods out of homes is falling "woefully short", a consumer group has claimed.

Faulty white goods such as washing machines, tumble dryers and fridge freezers are causing more than 60 house fires a week, a figure that has remained "stubbornly high" for at least five years, an investigation by Which? found.

There have been a number of fires in the Bolton area in the past few months which fire chiefs have blamed on electrical faults in white goods.

The kitchen of a house in Highfield Road, Farnworth, was badly damaged after a washing machine went up in flames earlier this month.

And in January a mother and her toddler son had to evacuate their home after a washing machine caught fire in Blair Lane, Breightmet.

Both incidents were blamed on electrical faults in the machines.

In January, a washing machine caught fire while the occupants were at work in Links Road, Harwood. The kitchen was badly damaged.

And a young couple with an 11-month-old baby escaped unhurt after a tumble dryer burst into flames in Lichfield Avenue, Tonge Moor, during the early hours of the morning in December.

Bobbie Brown and partner Liam Rice were alerted by smoke alarms in the property.

The kitchen was badly damaged along with a high chair and Christmas presents.

A fault in a tumble dryer was also blamed for a blaze in Rydal Road, Heaton, in December.

A family, including two young children, escaped unharmed after fleeing the house during the night.

And in January students were sent home from Bolton College after a fire started in a tumble dryer in the hair and beauty salon at the college's Deane Road campus.

Fire data obtained by the watchdog through Freedom of Information requests shows faulty washing machines and tumble dryers to be the most high-risk appliances, causing 35pc of fires between April 1, 2014 and March 31, 2016.

Other high-risk appliances for the same period include cookers and ovens, which caused 11pc of fires, dishwashers (10pc) and fridges, freezers and fridge freezers (8pc).

This week, Which? wrote to ministers giving them 90 days to publish an action plan for the new Office for Product Safety and Standards, launched last month.