The fire service has issued a safety warning about leaving small electrical devices on charge overnight.

Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service said the trend has been the cause of multiple house fires in recent years.

The service said only large appliances such as fridges are designed to be left switched on all the time, and everything else should be unplugged before going to bed.

The new safety campaign, 'Unplug to Unwind', is in response to an increase in fires involving electrical items over the last three years.

The main causes are vape and mobile chargers, overloaded sockets, cheap online goods, electric fires, and faulty wiring.

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Safe and Well Manager Sarah Moore said: "We know people will be trying to save money this winter, especially with Black Friday and in the run-up to Christmas, and it’s all too tempting to buy cheap products, but this comes with a risk.

"Although it can be cheaper to buy imported goods, they are often made with poor quality components that fail to meet UK safety regulations.

"This means they can cause injury, electric shocks and even fires."

Ms Moore also warned about the dangers of using the wrong charger for rechargeable devices, which can cause overheating and fires.