By Connor Boyd For Mailonline
Published: 16:20 BST, 22 May 2019 | Updated: 00:22 BST, 23 May 2019
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Hundreds of dangerous smoke alarms that don't detect fires are being sold on eBay and Wish, according to a consumer watchdog.
A Which? investigation found four smoke alarms listed on the shopping sites failed to sound in every house fire test.
The devices, among the most popular and affordable online, are useless in real fire scenarios and put lives at risk, the probe found.
The alarms made up 171 of the cheapest 500 listings for smoke detectors on eBay.
On Wish.com, 28 out of 200 listings were for three of the alarms that completely failed to detect smoke in the tests.
Hundreds of dangerous smoke alarms that don't detect fires like this one are being sold in droves online. They are unbranded, made in China and sold through Chinese re-sellers
An investigation by Which? found four smoke alarms, including this one, on Ebay and Wish.com failed to sound in every house fire test
All of the devices were unbranded, made in China and sold through Chinese re-sellers.
Two came with instructions that were not in English, meaning that the product cannot lawfully be sold in the UK.
Three of the alarms had a CE mark, suggesting to consumers that they are legal to sell in the UK and meet all safety standards.
Which? researchers analysed how the devices reacted to a host of different house fire scenarios.
They put each alarm in a fire chamber with smoke from four separate fires.
The fires are made up of materials that would be present in a house fire
