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Electrical safety experts are urging people to check their electrical devices for ‘clover leaf’ shaped plugs, warning that they can cause electric shocks or fires. Clover leaf plugs are smaller than standard UK plugs, and do not meet the legal requirements for plugs sold in the UK.
Clover leaf plugs should be avoided as they pose significant risks:
These substandard plugs have been found on various electrical products, including hair dryers and straighteners, and e-bike and e-scooter chargers.
"The plug is the most obvious tell-tale sign as to whether a product is compliant and safe," explains Giuseppe Capanna, Product Safety Engineer at Electrical Safety First, the UK’s leading charity on electrical safety.
"If you've recently acquired an electrical device - perhaps as a gift or a bargain you found in the January sales, you should chack that it is fused so that it can cut out in the event of a fault. There should also be a gap of at least 9.5mm between the plug pins and the edge of the plug.
"If the plug attached to your device is shaped like a clover leaf stop using it immediately and return it."
