Housing fires 'increase by 300% at Christmas'

A leading insurer has warned that the number of fire incidents on Christmas Day increased by 300 per cent last year.

The statistics could see people look to install additional fire-safety measures in a self build home in order to keep their families safe.

More Than insurance says that the Christmas spirit sees people become so absent-minded on Christmas Day that they "put themselves and their family in danger by forgetting to take simple safety precautions".

However, simple measures such as installing additional fire alarms and plenty of plug sockets in the home could stop sockets from being overloaded and fires going undetected.

More Than urges people to carefully monitor what they are cooking in the oven, to keep candles away from curtains and not to leave Christmas lights on when they go out.

There are more house fires reported in December than in any other month, according to research published by DirectLine.