NEARLY 20,000 homes across the Bradford district have never had a smoke alarm fitted, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) has revealed.

Of all the properties visited by WYFRS officials to perform home fire safety checks, more than 19,300 had not had the safety precaution installed.

A further 2,200 homes across the district had alarms that were found to be not working properly, either because the battery was flat or had been removed, or because they had been fitted incorrectly.

WYFRS has fitted more than 66,000 smoke alarms across Bradford since April 2011, plus numerous specialist alarms for deaf people or those who are hard of hearing.

In the past three years, about 80,000 West Yorkshire homes visited by firefighters did not have working smoke alarms, and WYFRS has released the figures to coincide with its support for this weekend's Tick Tock Test campaign.

The national initiative, led by the government organisation Fire Kills, is designed to encourage people to test their smoke alarms when they put their clocks back as British Summer Time ends on Sunday.

In March, nearly one in seven people across the country tested their smoke alarms when they changed their clocks to British Summer Time.

Smoke, dubbed 'the silent killer', is said to be responsible for more than half of all deaths in accidental fires in the home across England, and last year, more than half of the 213 fire deaths in dwellings across the country were caused by smoke inhalation.

Thomas Rhodes, district prevention manager for Bradford, said people were four times more likely to die in a fire without a working smoke alarm in their home.

“Having a correctly fitted and working smoke alarm, that you regularly test, can save you and your family’s life," he said.

"It is your early warning and a sign that you need to get out, stay out and call 999.

"Over the past ten years the numbers of preventable fire deaths has dropped dramatically as smoke alarm ownership has increased."

More than 71,000 homes across West Yorkshire have never had a working smoke alarm, with 9,000 properties found to contain a faulty alarm since 2011.

In a bid to combat the problem and raise awareness of the dangers of smoke inhalation, WYFRS had fitted more than 223,000 working alarms across the county in the past three years.

Ian Bitcon, WYFRS area manager for fire safety, said: “Smoke alarms are a well-proven life-saving tool, but they are no use if they are not working."

To book a free home fire safety check with WYFRS, visit westyorkshirefire.gov.uk, and for more information on the Fire Kills campaign, visit gov.uk/firekills.