A mother-of-five whose family is now homeless "lost everything" after her tumble dryer caught fire.

Emma McGrath from Ayr has demanded the manufacturer takes more responsibility for faulty appliances and has urged others not to use the models at the centre of a UK-wide safety alert.

Last November, Whirlpool announced a safety alert for more than 100 models of Hotpoint, Indesit and Creda tumble dryers.

It is thought as many as five million appliances could be affected and it is estimated over 600,000 customers have registered to have their machine repaired.

Like many others, Emma said she followed the safety advice given online but earlier in February a fire broke out when Emma's partner and one-year-old son were at home. Both escaped safely but the family home was seriously damaged by the blaze.

Now in temporary accommodation and with no insurance cover, the family of seven is relying on help from friends and relatives.

Ms McGrath insisted Hotpoint must take responsibility and said the company's claim the dryers are safe to use if supervised is dangerously untrue.

Hotpoint said its engineers are dealing with around 4000 unsafe dryers each day. It has been revealed firefighters across the UK have been called to more than 6000 fires started by faulty dryers over the past six years, with three people killed in the blazes.