A BOLTON MP has joined a campaign to warn elderly people and their families over the dangers of house fires caused by electrical faults.

Bolton South East representative Yasmin Qureshi is backing Electrical Safety First’s ‘Safer Over 65’ campaign to encourage constituents to check on the electrical safety of older family members, or neighbours, during the winter.

“Many older people worry about winter heating bills, often using portable heaters and electric blankets to cut costs - but these appliances have caused a number of house fires, mainly through misuse”, explained Ms. Qureshi.

“And with most older people being owner-occupiers, they tend to live in homes which haven’t had an electrical safety check for many years and often lack important electrical safety features.

“Today, we are sadly also seeing a significant increase in age-related illnesses such as dementia, making electrical safety even more of an imperative.”