The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents has put the cost to the UK of accidents in the home at £45 billion a year, in hospital bills, time off work and benefits, in a report to their home safety congress in Glasgow.

The figure has almost doubled since RoSPA last reported on home accidents in 1996.

Their latest figures put the average cost for each casualty injured at home at £16,900, with those requiring hospital treatment running at  2.7 million people a year..

The figure is based on lost contributions to the economy, the value of avoiding the injury and the cost of medical and support services. The figures exclude cost of 4,000 deaths every year caused by accidents in the home, at a cost £1.61 million each.

Tom Mullarkey, RoSPA chief executive, said: "We have long known that more people are killed or injured in accidents at home than in any other setting and the multi-billion pound cost of these accidents is, quite simply, breathtaking and unacceptable.

"It is a sad fact that overall, accidental deaths have increased in recent years. Accidents typically associated with the home, such as falls, account for some of this rise.

"It is time to get serious about accident prevention, particularly in the home, which has been the Cinderella of safety for far too long because injuries are suffered behind closed doors.

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