A coroner in Cornwall has called for a national database that would allow potentially dangerous gas appliances to be quickly traced and prevent fatalities.

Coroner Geraint Williams made the recommendation in a Prevention of Future deaths report following the inquest into the deaths of five people who died in Cornwall after Beko gas cookers produced fatal levels of carbon monoxide.

Kevin Branton, aged 34 and Richard Smith, aged 30, died in Saltash in 2010, while the deaths of Maureen Cook, 47, and her parents, Audrey Cook, 86, and Alfred (known as John) Cook, 90, occurred in 2013 in Camborne.

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In a prevention of future deaths report issued this week, Mr Williams said: “It is a matter of concern that there is no national or central database which contains details of gas appliances manufactured, supplied or fitted to homes in the UK, which would allow rapid identification and tracing of potentially dangerous items.”

He said communication between manufacturers, suppliers, wholesalers, fitters and householders in connection with the supply etc of gas appliances is hindered by the lack of mandatory recording of the said manufacture, supply and fitting of such appliances.

He also said the lack of a mandatory scheme for recording the supply etc of such items meant that it was difficult and time consuming to trace potentially dangerous items when urgency is of the utmost importance.

He added that there was a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken.

The report has been sent to Nadhim Zahawi, parliamentary under secretary of state, department of business energy and industrial strategy, and Graham Russell, from the Office for Product Safety and Standards, who must respond by February 1, 2021 with details of action they propose to take and a timetable for action. Alternatively they must explain why no action is proposed.

Leigh Day solicitor Thomas Jervis, who represented the Branton, Smith and Cook families at the inquest into their deaths last month, said: “The recommendation by the coroner is welcome, absolutely necessary and long overdue.

"If these measures had been in place when my clients’ families purchased their Beko gas cookers, their deaths would arguably not have happened.”

A spokesperson for Beko said after the inquest: “Our sympathies remain with the Branton, Smith and Cook families.

“Since these tragic incidents, we’ve continued to raise our safety standards and the testing processes our products go through have become even more robust and stringent.

"We also collaborated with the industry to get the UK and EU gas safety standards changed in 2009. The new standard helps prevent a similar tragic event from happening again.

“The cooker models involved in these incidents have been the subject of a recall for over ten years and are no longer manufactured or sold.

“Our main objective is to ensure that every Beko product is safe for our customers.”