London Fire Brigade cited the death of a Harrow man in a call to make fridge freezers safer.

In 2010, Santosh Benjamin-Muthiah, 36, died trying to save his family after a blaze at his home in Grant Road, Wealdstone.

An inquest held at Barnet Coroners Court last August heard how a faulty defrost timer switch in the family’s Beko fridge freezer had caused the fire.

After the hearing, coroner Andrew Walker reported on the lack of any requirement for manufacturers to protect the flammable insulation from catching fire.

And despite seven deaths and 71 serious injuries in London since 2010, London Fire Brigade says most manufacturers are yet to improve designs.

An average of one fire a week is caused by fridge freezers and the fire service is calling on manufacturers to ensure the backs of the appliances are made of fireproof or fire-retardant materials.

London Fire Brigade deputy commissioner Rita Dexter said fridge freezers are potentially the most dangerous household appliances if they catch fire.

She said: “They contain large amounts of highly flammable foam insulation, often only protected by a thin plastic covering. This can be a recipe for disaster if a fault occurs or if a fire spreads from somewhere else to the fridge or freezer.

A recipe for disaster: this video shows what happens when a fridge or freezer with flammable backing catches fire.

"They are also one of the few electrical items in your home to be always left on and these fires pose an even greater risk if they start when people are sleeping.

“Putting a simple non-combustible or fire retardant covering at the back of appliances is a relatively simple change that manufacturers can make and one that we believe would reduce the number of injuries, and potentially deaths, caused by fires involving fridges and freezers.”