When our caravan could have caught fire

I want to warn members who have older Bailey caravans of a potential fire hazard.

While we were away we became aware of an acrid burning smell. It seemed to be coming from the vicinity of the Power Distribution Unit beneath the seating where we store our bedding.

We couldn't see anything wrong, and all the electrics were working, so we arranged for a caravan engineer to come out.

When he arrived, he took the PDU apart, checked the adjacent battery compartment and dismantled the fire, trying to find the cause of the smell. He tested the electrical system - and everything was fully functional. He said he would look further into it.

The following morning he phoned and asked us if the smell was stronger in the battery compartment. This prompted us to examine beneath the seating again.

Almost by accident I slid my fingers in the gap between the compartment and the floor. It was very warm, and as pulled my fingers out, I brought with them the mains cable which linked the compartment to the PDU. Here was the source of the problem!

The cable - which had been tucked under there out of sight - was joined together with a plastic connector. This was blackened and melted. When I checked further, the floor was also scorched. In fact, the 1 metre length of cable was three short pieces connected by two enstoconnectors! The engineer came out and he replaced it with one single length of cable.

Bailey admitted they had been aware of the problem since 2005 - and newer caravans had been fitted with safer connectors. Apparently, the screws holding the wires could loosen, causing arcing, and the two halves of the connector were also liable to fall apart if not held together with a plastic tie.

When I asked why a single one metre length of cable was not used, instead of three short pieces cobbled together with defective connectors, they replied that 'it allows us to use a number of generic parts'. I would have thought safety should come first.

If they had known of the problem since 2005 - why weren't owners informed, so they could have had the connectors changed?

Bailey said they did inform dealers, so they could check them when carrying out annual services. That's not good enough. We know full well that there are dealers who would just ignore this information. And what about independent caravan engineers - were they informed too? Those at risk, the caravan owners, should have been told, and there should have been notices in the caravan press.

I am not happy at all in how the problem was created, nor how it was handled. I am also £90 out of pocket. A fire risk like this should, and could, be avoided altogether.

When I asked Bailey to reimburse my costs, they just ignored me. Guess who won't be buying another Bailey caravan?