A few candles scattered round the room can lend a warm glow to an evening in or add some festive cheer to the season’s celebrations.

The most important steps you can take to keep yourself and your loved ones safe include making sure your candles are kept away from flammable materials like curtains and putting out candles when nobody is in the room.

Candles cause over 800 fires in UK homes every year, so please be careful when using them and use LED candles for decorations wherever possible.

Always

Always use a heat resistant holder when burning candles and tealights.
Always make sure candles are completely out and not still smouldering.
Always keep candles away from curtains and soft furnishings such as table cloths and cushions.

Avoid

Avoid putting candles where they might get knocked over or where children and pets could get close to them.
Avoid putting tealights directly on to baths and TVs. Even though tealights are usually sold in little aluminium containers these are not totally heatproof.

Never

Never place candles or tealights directly on to plastic surfaces.
Never leave candles burning. You should extinguish candles before you leave a room and never go to sleep with a candle still burning.
Never burn several candles close together as this might cause flaring (mainly with tea-lights).

Candle safety

Always

Avoid

Never