Warning after sharp rise in 'silent killer' cases in Greater Manchester

A sharp increase in suspected carbon monoxide (CO) incidents has been recorded in Manchester and other parts of the region. Engineers from Cadent, the region’s gas emergency service, responded to 2,889 CO-related jobs in Manchester in 2023/24 – a 37 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

No other town or city in the North West recorded a higher number than Manchester, and only London and Glasgow nationally recorded more.

Cadent says the trend shows the critical need for home and other property owners to do annual checks of any fuel-burning appliance, such as central heating boilers and log burners. There are around 40 deaths attributed to CO poisoning - known as the silent killer - in England and Wales every year.

The gas is odourless, colourless, and tasteless and symptons of CO poisoning include headaches, nausea, chest and stomach pains. It is produced when fossil fuels are burned without adequate air ventilation.

In Wigan there was a 56 percent increase in cases to 389 and in Stockport cases rose by 69 percent to 503. The most incidents after Manchester was Bolton with 572 - up by 26 percent.

Lasy month the Manchester Evening News reported how a schoolgirl saved her grandmother after she had been suffering with mysterious 'dizzy spells'. Connie Burslem, from Monton, Salford, learned about carbon monoxide (CO) during a workshop at her school, St Mary’s RC Primary in Eccles.

Classmates were given CO alarms and as Connie had two already at her home, she gave it to her 79-year-old 'Nanna' Pauline, from Cadishead. Two days later, the alarm went off.

Pauline thought it might have been faulty at first but after calling out gas distribution company Cadent, it was discovered she had a CO leak from her cooker. “If she hadn’t gone to the Crucial Crew workshop, and she hadn’t got the alarm and she hadn’t given it to me, then who knows?” Pauline said.

Two incidents within days in the area of Manchester city centre recently highlighted the potential danger of CO poisoning. Cadent received a call about a CO alarm activation in a property attached to a social club. An engineer found CO readings in that property and, as routine, checked the neighbouring ones too. He discovered issues with the boiler of the social club next door, which was unoccupied at the time. Had it been occupied, the levels of CO were such that the company would have evacuated it.

In the second they were called out to a residential property. An engineer could find no issues in that property and went next door to check. Through the window, he could see a wood-burning stove was being used. This had a fault - and CO was being pulled into the neighbouring property, in a kind of vacuum effect.

In a case last year an opening to an inquest was told a 44-year-old man succumbed to carbon monoxide poisoning at his home in Partington, Trafford.

Paula Steer, North West Network Director, Cadent, said: “On the one hand, it is encouraging that people are contacting the gas emergency service if they suspect carbon monoxide. It is exactly the right thing to do, to ring 0800 111 999* immediately.

“However, we are also concerned that this is further evidence of another worrying trend. We commissioned research this year which told us that almost 30 percent of people are only getting their boilers serviced every two years, or less often than that. This is a big worry – I can’t stress enough just how important it is to get your boiler serviced every year.

“You can’t smell carbon monoxide, and you can’t see, taste or hear it. An annual safety check, by a Gas Safe registered engineer, is your best way to protect you and your family.”

Cadent invested £3.6m in 2023/24 on carbon monoxide education and awareness campaigns, including activities for schools. Cadent-funded classroom-based programmes reached more than 120,000 children last year.

There is evidence to indicate that awareness of CO has more than doubled in some areas Cadent works in.

Through its partnerships with local community centres, fire services, and others, and through its own engineers’ visits to homes, Cadent distributed more than 109,000 carbon monoxide alarms last year – for free – in high-risk areas.

CO alarms can also be purchased through many online retailers and in lots of shops, such as DIY stores and supermarkets. Cadent is urging all property owners to get their gas appliances serviced every year, by a Gas Safe registered engineer. You can find an engineer local to you at https://www.gassaferegister.co.uk/

Symptoms are often mistaken for flu or hangover, as they are similar – including headache, nausea, dizziness, breathlessness, collapse and loss of consciousness.

Other signs that CO may be present are that a gas flame burning orange-yellow, instead of blue; the pilot light frequently going out; excess condensation in rooms with gas appliances; and soot/yellow-brown staining around an appliance.

Carbon monoxide alarms are recommended for every room where there is such a fuel burning appliance. These must be tested regularly, and checked that they remain in date. There will be a date printed on the alarm, to indicate when it should be replaced.

The top ten areas for CO reported incidents in the north west were: