Caterers warned to beware flaming towels

Humberside Fire Brigade has issued a warning about the dangers of spontaneously-combusting bar towels. Its call follows two recent incidents, one in a pub in the Hull area and another in Scotland, where towels caught fire after being tumble-dried.

In Hull, some of the bar towels had become soiled with kitchen grease. They were washed, tumble-dried at a high heat setting for 90 minutes, then stacked neatly on top of the drier while another load was dried.

Almost four hours later, staff noticed smoke, which firefighters traced to the pile of 25-30 cotton towels.

The fire officer's report said: "The towels were lifted en masse and dropped into a sink where once the pile fell apart they immediately burst into flames. They were doused with water to extinguish the fire. Inspection revealed that the first three towels were unmarked and the others had been charred progressively from the centre of the pile."

The fire was similar to one in Dumfries and Galloway in August.