Over recent years Britons have embraced the American custom of illuminating the outside of their houses with Christmas lights, festooning their roofs with metres of cable and thousands of twinkling lights. Inside too, houses are a testimony to design flair and creativity with Christmas trees, candles and decorations. This year it is estimated that some 8.9 million sets of lights will be bought for the occasion.

Halifax General Insurance is warning the public to take extra care around Christmas time. In 2003 64% of all fire-related insurance claims recorded by Halifax General Insurance were as a result of an accident - including incidents such as candles setting fire to furniture, hot coals falling from a fire and accidents whilst cooking and a further 17% of fires were caused by electrical faults.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents reported nearly 2,000 fires resulting from the handling of, or placing articles too close, to candles in 2003. Furthermore, fire claims accounted for over 10% of all household claims in December 2003 and Halifax saw an increase of 19% in fire- related claims from Nov-Dec 2003.

Howard Posner, chief executive of Halifax General Insurance said: "Every Christmas we receive thousands of phone calls from householders who have had fire damage to their properties, a large proportion of which can be attributed to faulty Christmas lights, or accidents with candles, which are traditionally used during this time of year."

Though many accidents are unforeseeable and unavoidable, taking some simple steps to ensure your home is less open to fire hazards can reduce the chances of a house fire or limit the damage caused considerably.

Halifax recommend the following top safety tips:

• Make sure you have at least one correctly fitted smoke alarm and check it regularly
• Agree a fire action plan and make everyone in the property aware of it so that everyone in your house knows how to escape in the event of fire
• Keep clothing and presents away from heating appliances
• Take care in the kitchen especially when cooking with hot oil
• Take special care when you are tired or when you've been drinking. Half of all deaths in domestic fires happen during the late evening and overnight
• Check for overloaded plugs you should fit one plug per socket unless you use a bar adapter on a lead. But don't plug appliances into the adapter that collectively use more than 13 amps of current
• Check for worn or damaged cables and leads and replace them
• Check for signs of loose or problematic wiring hot plugs and sockets, flickering lights or fuses blowing for no clear reason are all indicators that there could be a problem
• Check that lights and lamps aren't positioned near curtains or other flammable materials
• Check that all inflammable materials such as solvents or paraffin are stored safely away from children and direct sunlight or heat sources
• If you are going to use Christmas lights on your house ensure that you use a timer designed for exterior use
• Insulate your connections
• Never insert or remove bulbs when your lights are switched on and don't use lights outdoors unless they are specially made for that purpose