Surrey fire and rescue warns about the dangers of unregulated batteries
Surrey had the most E-Scooter and E-Bike related fires in all of South-East England last year
Surrey fire and rescue have been telling us they have been seeing more lithium batteries being sold that are bypassing regulations.
This comes as recent data showed 20 e-bike and e-scooter fires occurred in the county last year, the most in the south east and a yearly increase of 25%.
Matt Oakley, who is an fire investigation officer has been telling us about the rise in the number of these fires. He told us the number has jumped from 0 to 7 to 15 and now up to 20.
He told us a key cause for these fires is sellers bypassing safety regulations.
"Now, lots of batteries you can buy on the open market now with online sellers that probably haven't gone through the due process of coming through British standards regulations. They come in through online sellers straight into the country and we've got no control over those."
As to why Surrey had the most, Matt told us that Surrey was the only county in the region with a dedicated fire investigation team meaning more fires are likely to be classified and reported compared to other surrounding areas.
Matt also pointed to the fact that North Surrey's border with London makes it more urban leading to more of these fires.
Matt told us in an ideal world there would be more checks and barriers regarding batteries being sold into the country to prevent dodgy batteries coming into circulation
"I think that would be very prudent for all of us, particularly from the Fire Service for Public Safety
The introduction of any kind of regulation that controls online selling of batteries that haven't come through the right channels, I think is a good thing.
How we achieve that, I understand there's lots of work that the Office for Product Safety and Standards up at the Home Office work that on a national level.
The problem there is the introduction of batteries and new products onto the market is so quick and thick and fast that we are always going to struggle to keep up with that process.
So all we can do as a fire and rescue service is keep investigating, keep advising the public for safety."
Matt added what exactly it was the public could do to keep themselves safe
"Buy it from a reputable seller. Try not to buy second hand unless you know where it's come from and you've got the paperwork to go with it.
On top of that, it's also advisable people don't tamper or modify the batteries or the device and the motors because obviously if you try and increase the power of these things, you're now changing the setup of the battery and the power it's demanding, which then overriding can cause residual build up of heat.
Storing them safely. Make sure they're not kept in direct sunlight. As soon as you break that battery or damage the internal make working to the battery, then it's time to get rid of it. And that comes onto disposal. Always dispose of your batteries in a really safe way."