Government issues winter carbon monoxide poisoning warning

Public Health England has issued a warning to people across the country about the potential danger posed by carbon monoxide poisoning this winter.

To mark Carbon Monoxide Awareness Week, the government is advising people to have their fossil fuel and wood burning appliances – such as boilers, heaters and cookers – properly checked before temperatures fall any lower.

Devices such as these can sometime emit carbon monoxide – a colourless, odourless and tasteless gas – when poorly maintained, putting homeowners at risk of headaches, drowsiness, dizziness, chest pains, nausea and vomiting, or loss of consciousness and death in severe cases.

Those who suspect they have been exposed to carbon monoxide are advised to turn off their appliances and open their windows, before going to see their GP as soon as possible.

Dr Simon Bouffler of Public Health England's Centre for Radiation, Chemical and Environmental Hazards said: "Many of these deaths take place between November and February due to faulty fossil fuel and wood burning appliances giving off this lethal gas. These deaths are preventable."

More than 50 people die from accidental carbon monoxide poisoning every year in the UK, while 200 people are left seriously ill.