EE accelerates exploding Power Bar recall

UPDATE - 17/12/2015: EE has initiated a full recall of its Power Bars, asking for customers to return all of the chargers.

The Telco has expanded the recall, which started with a batch of 500,000 units in August.

The recall was prompted by one of the portable chargers overheating, leading to a fire which left a medical student needing plastic surgery.

EE has now decided to recall the remaining million or so units, stating that "This is just a precaution, but we want to make sure all our customers are safe".

"We're asking everyone to stop using Power Bars and unplug them from their phones or tablets, and the mains," the company said.

Customers are urged to return their chargers to an EE store "as soon as you can", with eligible EE customers receiving a 20 voucher for their trouble.

The company has not specified whether or not the Power Bars will be re-issued once the problem has been solved, as it is apparently "fully focused on the recall".

EE has recalled a batch of Power Bar chargers it had given to customers for free after one exploded, causing serious burns to a young woman.

The mobile operator said it became aware of the issue after the customer complained, tweeting a picture of her severely burnt hand, alongside the message: "Ty @EE for the powerbar which exploded, almost burned down our house+left my hand like this: #Firework."

The 26-year-old medical student said she was charging the mobile charger via her laptop while she was sleeping. She was woken up when it overheated and shot across her room, landing under her bed where it started a fire.

Unsurprisingly, she burnt her hands while trying to extinguish the blaze and required plastic surgery after the incident, which happened late in July.

EE said in the recall notice: "Power Bars from any other batch aren't affected by this recall. It's our intention to replace these chargers once we've completed our investigations; we'll be in touch once these have been concluded. We're really sorry for any inconvenience this may cause."

EE advised if your Power Bar displays the batch or model number "E1-06", you should return it to an EE store for a replacement.

However, it also added that it had not heard of any other incidents involving the Power Bars, hence why it was only recalling one batch. It has suspended its Power Bar swap scheme while it recalls the affected batch.

EE announced its Power Bar giveaway at the beginning of April, giving chargers to customers to power up their phones while on the move.

If it depleted while the customer was out and about, they could swap the charger with a new fully charged one at an EE store.