Forester poisoned by sofa

10:54am Friday 4th July 2008

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THE national health scare over toxic sofas reached the Forest of Dean as local resident Andrew Watts revealed that he has sought legal advice after a sudden and severe skin reaction.

Mr Watts was left with his whole back in bandages after toxic chemicals from his sofa left him with an excruciating rash on his back and cracked skin.

Mr Watts bought the sofa from Argos in January 2007.Only in the summer, when his skin came into contact directly with the furniture did he experience immediate discomfort.

"My back became warm and itchy, this continued to progress until the whole of my back was covered in a rash.I had no idea what the cause could be.

"As a wheelchair user I probably spend more time than most sitting down but the penny did not drop until much later on."

Mr Watts, from Cinderford, repeatedly visited his GP who prescribed him antibiotics, creams and bandaged his back. Tragically the GP was also searching in the dark for an explanation only when reports of Linkwise sofas treated with fungicide began to appear in the national press did Mr Watts put two and two together.

Argos offered replacement sofas although the offending furniture is still at his home.

Mr Watts legal representative Brett Fleming comments, "Where a product is unsafe there is potential for a claim against the manufacturer and the supplier.

"Unfortunately Mr Watts is not the only client we are representing who has suffered awfully from these. The law puts a high value on consumer safety and we believe he has a strong claim.

"Unfortunately this mans suffering has been compounded by the lack of public awareness of these risks.We are determined to get the message across to families that the cause of unexplained medical complaints might be much closer to home than expected; still seek medical advice but think of all possibilities - including recent furniture purchases."