AN EASTLEIGH mum, Louise Aspinall, pictured, has become the face of a new carbon monoxide (CO) awareness campaign called Project SHOUT.

Mrs Aspinall and her family had a lucky escape when a carbon monoxide leak in their home was detected by a simple alarm which, had they not had it in the kitchen, could have seriously injured them or even been fatal.

You can’t see, smell or taste carbon monoxide so it is very hard to identify and is often mistaken for other things, such as food poisoning or flu, as the symptoms are very similar.

Mrs Aspinall is supporting the initiative because one person dies every week in the UK from carbon monoxide poisoning, which can be produced from faulty fuel-burning appliances, including your boiler, fireplace, cooker, hob, barbecue or even a clogged chimney, and she was lucky not to add to the frightening statistics.

Mrs Aspinall said: “It’s a brilliant awareness campaign which is desperately needed.

"My family and I were very lucky to escape unharmed. It's frightening that we had no idea we were in danger until the alarm went off.

“My first instinct was that my boiler had gone wrong but it was pretty much new, top of the range and what I believed to be very efficient.

"We’re very lucky that we had that alarm which has potentially saved our lives.”

Project Shout is being supported by the Fire and Rescue Service, leading retailers such as B&Q and Amazon, energy suppliers such as British Gas, and leading medical expert Dr Sarah Jarvis.

To find out more, visit projectshout.com.