Up to one million defective tumble dryers remain potential fire hazards in British homes - and there have been fresh calls for manufacturer Whirlpool to act.

The House of Commons business committee has demanded “urgent action” from the company to resolve a problem that has led to at least 750 fires since 2004.

London Fire Brigade (LFB) is also calling for more to be done as it continues its Total Recalls campaign.

Whirlpool alerted authorities in 2015 that fires could be caused by fluff catching on a heating element in dryers marketed under its Hotpoint, Indesit, Creda and Proline brands.

The company began a programme of modifying machines in customers’ homes, initially advising them that they could continue using the tumble dryers while awaiting action.

This advice was withdrawn following a fire in a west London flat caused by an Indesit dryer in 2016.

And a second defect in the door mechanism of some Whirlpool products was blamed for a fire in Llanwrst, north Wales, which killed two men in 2014.

The Commons committee branded Whirlpool’s response to the defect “inadequate”, after hearing that only around 50 per cent of an estimated 5.3 million affected dryers have received the necessary modification.

Committee chairwoman Rachel Reeves said: “Whirlpool’s woeful response to the defect in its tumble dryers has caused huge worry to people with these appliances in their homes.

“Their delayed and dismissive response to correcting these defects has been inadequate and we call on Whirlpool to resolve issues urgently.”

The committee’s inquiry into risks from faulty electrical goods was triggered by last year’s Grenfell Tower tragedy, when 71 people died in a fire thought to have been started by a faulty Hotpoint fridge-freezer.

It found that the number of fires involving faulty electrical appliances in England has remained constant at between 4,300 and 5,000 a year.

In 2015/16 alone, 676 fires in England were caused by tumble dryers, leading to a total of 46 injuries and fatalities.

It has also called on manufacturers to use safer materials in plastic-backed fridge-freezers, which were linked to 214 fires with 27 serious injuries or fatalities in England in 2015/16 alone.

LFB's deputy assistant commissioner Charlie Pugsley said: “Without urgent action from Whirlpool and other manufacturers, lives and homes are being put at risk by faulty appliances.

“It is promising to see that the BEIS (business) committee is backing what London Fire Brigade has been saying for years. In particular that we want to see a single register database for consumers to check if their products have been recalled, manufacturers publishing risk assessments and a Government response to the working group report on product safety which was set up after a number of white goods fires.

“Whirlpool updated its advice to tell consumers not to use their tumble dryers until fixed, after pressure from the Brigade and other agencies and are now telling people to stop using appliances if there is a known fault. It is now time for the Government to take action to make sure consumers are safe in their own homes.”

As part of the Total Recalls campaign, the brigade has called on the government and manufacturers for the last two years to implement procedures including:

A single, publicly accessible register of product recalls

Include international recalls on the UK recall register

Publicise recalls better to reduce confusion

Risk assessments to be publish when a fault is identified

Greater regulation of second hand appliances

Marking all appliances with model and serial number

Whirlpool insists its response to the tumble dryer issues has achieved a resolution rate more than three times the industry average for a product recall, with 1.7 million machines modified and 99.9 per cent of registered customers’ issues resolved.

“After two years of extensive measures to raise awareness to this campaign – including directly contacting four million owners of these appliances – the number of consumers coming forward has fallen sharply,” said the company in a statement.

“We continue to urge consumers to contact us immediately if they believe they still own an affected appliance. We can assure consumers that they if they contact us now, they can receive a resolution within one week.”