Tumble dryer action call after fatal Llanrwst fire

Doug McTavish and Bernard Hender died in a fire above a funeral director's office

A coroner has told a tumble dryer manufacturer that it must take action after two men were killed in a fire.

Bernard Hender, 19, and Doug McTavish, 39, died in a flat in Llanrwst, Conwy county, in October 2014.

David Lewis, who conducted the inquest earlier this year, said the cause of the fire was most likely an electrical fault in the dryer.

He has since published a "report to prevent future deaths" which calls on Whirlpool to make changes.

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The inquest heard conflicting evidence on whether the dryer was to blame.

But in his report, Mr Lewis said the fire was caused "on the balance of probabilities" by an electrical fault with the door switch on the dryer.

Fire damage in the flat

It also said the manufacturers were aware of a "significant number" of fires associated with similar products and the door switch assembly was used in "hundreds of thousands" of Whirlpool appliances.

But he was not confident that the company's risk assessments had "fully identified or appreciated" the risk and fire and its potential consequences.

Mr Lewis said: "My impression was that at least some of the evidence from those called at the request of Whirlpool was defensive and dismissive in nature."

He also said he was concerned the company's approach was an "obstacle" to finding steps to prevent future fires.

Emergency services at the scene of the fire

The report is being sent to the families of Mr Hender and Mr McTavish, as well as to Whirlpool, which has 56 days - until Boxing Day - to respond.

The company has been told that its response must explain what action it has taken.

In a statement issued after the inquest, Whirlpool extended its "profound condolences" to the families and friends of Mr Hender and Mr McTavish.

"Safety is always our number one priority. We treat all incidents extremely seriously and we have a robust process that continuously reviews the safety of all our products," a spokesman said.

"We will carefully review and consider the coroner's findings in this case."