A SAFETY warning has been issued after a hoverboard battery pack exploded in a home days after it had been thrown in the bin.

Firefighters were called to a home in Southampton in the early hours of Saturday after one of the occupants heard an explosion.

One of the residents in the home in Victory Road, Shirley, was awake when they heard the noise at about 3.15am, before realising a bin was on fire.

They put the bin outside before calling the emergency services, with a crew from Redbridge fire station arriving minutes later.

Watch manager Jamie Townsend said that after the fire had been extinguished the crews saw it had been caused by a battery pack which had over-heated.

Mr Townsend said this incident highlighted the safety issues surrounding the disposal of battery packs and faulty battery packs.

“If people aren’t aware they need to be aware. Make sure you dispose of them safely,” he said suggesting that people take them to their local recycling centre rather than throwing them in the bin.

Hoverboards, also known as Swegways, are the latest must-have controversial toy which were withdrawn from sale by retail giants towards the end of last year.

Before Christmas last year Amazon advised customers who have bought hoverboards with unsafe UK plugs to throw them away.

National Trading Standards had raised concerns about their safety, in particular their rechargeable lithium batteries and plugs.

The Government had previously warned consumers to "think twice" about buying the gadget amid fears over imitation devices being sold at discount prices.

In December thousands of scooters were seized mainly for having non-compliant electrical components that could explode or catch fire.

Many of the boards were found to have non-compliant plugs without fuses, which increase the risk of the device overheating, exploding or catching fire, and cut-off switches which failed when tested.

Chargers, cabling and batteries were also found to fail safety standards.

A spokesman from Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service urged people to “dispose of them in the correct manner by taking them to a battery bank”.