TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has been launching a new campaign to highlight the risk of carbon monoxide poisoning in the home.

Research has shown that some 20 million households around the UK are putting themselves at risk by not taking the necessary precautions to detect the gas, which has no colour, taste or smell.

The campaign, Carbon Monoxide - Be Alarmed!, aims to encourage people to ensure they have an alarm fitted and have their gas, oil and solid fuel-burning appliances serviced annually.

Allsopp, presenter of Channel 4's property programme, Location, Location, Location, is backing the campaign along with various victims' charities, professional organisations and energy companies.

She said: "I'm staggered by how few of the many homes I see have carbon monoxide alarms.

"Carbon monoxide can kill you or leave you with permanent brain damage. It's easy to protect yourself: fit an audible alarm and get your boiler and other fuel-burning appliances checked at least once a year.

"These two simple steps could save your and your family's lives."

Also backing the campaign is Stacey Rodgers, whose 10-year-old son Dominic died after carbon monoxide from a neighbour's faulty boiler seeped into his bedroom at their home in Huddersfield in 2004.

The campaign aims to raise awareness of the symptoms of carbon monoxide poisoning, which include nausea, dizziness, tiredness, headaches, loss of balance and forgetfulness.

Research shows that currently only 6% of people describe themselves as "very confident" that they would recognise the symptoms.

Many believe it to have affected them at some point in their lives, however, with one in 30 saying they had suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Nigel Dumbrell, chairman of the Carbon Monoxide Consumer Awareness Alliance, which is behind the campaign, said: "Carbon monoxide is a highly poisonous gas that has no colour, taste or smell - it is impossible to detect without an alarm.

"Even at levels that don't kill, carbon monoxide can cause lasting damage to your health.

"This is the first time such a broad alliance of organisations has come together to drive the message home that people need to protect themselves."

For more information about the campaign and how to stay safe, visit www.CO-BeAlarmed.co.uk

Source: 24dash.com, 22nd October