If you are in somebody's home and you see a really old fashioned pendant light fitting with braided cord, lease tell them that these lights could be dangerous and should be replaced!
Nigel Rooney from Herts and Beds Electrical was in a house in Biggleswade with very old light fittings:
I was called there because the fuse on the fuseboard would not reset. It turned out that on 1 light fitting the braid had worn out so badly, the live and neutral cables were touching each other.
The old fusebox was infact doing its job of stopping a fire. An up to date fusebox with RCD protection would have detected dangerous wiring sooner. If you know anyone with really old pendants or old wiring, please tell them to contact their Local Electrician to check out the wiring.
I have attached a couple of photos of the potentially dangerous light fitting and what you need to be looking out for.
