'Cheap' £9.99 vape explodes in London flat while on charge setting fire to owner's bed

He spent the rest of the day 'scraping molten plastic off of the floor'

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A man who bought a "knock off" vape from a corner shop in South London is regretting the £5 saving he made after it exploded in his bedroom, setting fire to his bed. The Lost Mary style vape caught fire after being plugged in to charge.

Dom, who doesn't want to give his surname, found the carnage after smelling smoke at his flat in New Cross. He bought the e-cig for £9.99 from an off licence in Deptford days earlier and was boosting its battery.

But when he sniffed smoke he went to investigate and found the huge fire engulfing his bed. Dom, 29, says the vape looked like reputable brand Lost Mary - but he now thinks it was a fake.

READ MORE: The London neighbourhood being taken over by vape shops where drugs are dealt in the open and 'nothing is being done about it'

He said of the scare: "You hear these stories about vapes - so it wasn't a colossal surprise. The alarm was going off for five minutes

"I went into the corridor and saw thick smoke and went into the bedroom and the bed was ablaze. I didn't really know what it was until I got in the room but my vape was plugged into the wall and it was at the centre of the blaze.

"It's from a not-so-brilliant looking shop in Deptford where they sell them a bit cheaper than anywhere else. I always wondered whether they were knock offs - and that's confirmed my suspicions."

Fortunately the blaze only damaged the bed - leaving the rest of his rented flat untouched. He added: "After I put it out the rest of the day was spent scraping molten plastic off of the floor. It seems like there's not going to be any lasting damage to the property itself as it's all coming off the floor."

Whilst the incident hasn't put Dom off vaping, he says he won't be looking to save money on them in the future. He said: "I'm not going to be buying them from corner shops moving forward. It hasn't put me off them too much - but I won't be buying from there. It cost me £9.99 - and normally they'd be about £15."

Lost Mary was approached for comment.

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