Worried owners of Hotpoint and Indesit washing machines are still struggling to access a recall website to check whether their machine is a fire risk. Half a million appliances need to be fixed or replaced as their door locking system can overheat. But manufacturer Whirlpool's model checker website has been blighted by technical difficulties. The company has apologised for the safety issue and has now had to say sorry again for the IT fault.

"We are truly sorry for the technical issues customers have been experiencing on our website. One of our third-party service providers suffered an issue which affected our recall website," a Whirlpool spokesman said. "We've been working with them through the night, and have built a new online system to fix this. The system is being tested, so the website is still suspended for the time being, but is due to be up and running shortly." An alternative phone line has also been set up - on 0800 316 1442 - although, as it connected to the same system, some customers are facing difficulties accessing that too. The company had taken 17,000 calls this morning.

Source: BBC Business