Overheating HP Chromebook 11 laptops taken off sale

Owners of Hp Chromebook 11s are being told not to use its original charger

All HP Chromebook 11 laptops have been removed from sale following reports the devices' chargers had been overheating.

The decision to halt sales came from HP and Google after owners complained about broken chargers.

The two companies have also issued advice to existing owners telling them not to use the charger that came in the box with the computer.

Instead, they said, owners should use third-party chargers to keep the gadget going.

US reports suggest the machines have been taken off shelves at retailer Best Buy and the gadget can no longer be found in the Google, HP and Amazon online stores.

In a joint statement, Google and HP said they had received a "small number" of reports from users saying their original charger had been damaged by overheating.

The companies said they were now looking into the problem to see what was making the chargers overheat. They apologised to customers for the inconvenience caused by the faulty chargers and added that more information would follow shortly.

The statement said that micro-USB chargers that work with other tablets and smartphones should be used instead of the bundled charger. Technology news site Ars Technica noted that this advice would mean that Chromebooks took much longer to charge than they would with the original charger.

HP's Chromebook 11 was released in early October 2013 and cost about £230 in the UK.