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A woman in Belgium who called the fire brigade after her flat was filled with a burning smell was embarrassed to learn that the source of the odour was an overheated sex toy.

When firefighters traced the source of the problem using a special thermal camera, the red-faced women from Turnhout, near Antwerp, pretended she’d never seen before, saying “Wow…what’s that?”

Fire Officer Nick Eelen said the incident was a timely reminder to keep an eye on battery-powered devices that might be left charging.

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He added that the fire hazard being an overheated vibrator was a first, in his experience.

Eelen told local media: "I have a lot of experience in interventions, but I had not experienced this before."

He said that the woman acted surprised when the problem was traced. He told reporters that she’d said "'Wow, what's that here?”

The offending sex toy had been stored in a wooden box and was not connected to its charger when it was found, although it felt very warm, he added.

"What exactly happened, we can only guess, but at a certain point there was a short circuit in the vibrator’s battery."

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He explained: "In theory, the silicone simply melts and it is over, but if such a device is in a combustible place – such as in this case a wooden box – there could be a fire hazard."

It’s not a good idea to leave electrical items charging unattended following a recent survey finding that up to 14% of household fires in the UK are caused by electrical appliances.

Hair straighteners were singled out as particularly worrisome by London Fire Brigade. They can get extremely hot, LFB says, and you should always switch them off and leave them to cool on a heatproof surface.

There were no figures available on how many house fires were started by rogue vibrators.

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