Food retailer, J Sainsbury plc, is shelving the sale of its chip pans to help reduce some 49% of house fires and about 30 fatalities caused annually by misused kitchen products.

Unattended chip pans left on cookers are a major cause of fire in the home. The retailer will no longer sell open chip pans in any of its stores, only electrical thermostatically controlled deep fat fryers, following a partnership with Tyne & Wear Fire & Rescue Service.