Abingdon Electric Blanket Checks Free on 25 September

Free electric blanket safety checks return to the Vale this autumn. Abingdon Fire Station on Ock Street takes bookings for Friday 25 September, and Wantage Fire Station for Friday 9 October.

The tests are run by Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service and have to be booked in advance. They cover electric blankets, heated throws and heat pads, and they are free.

The number worth knowing before you decide whether to bother: of the 920 electric blankets tested at last year’s events, 338 failed their safety assessment. That is a failure rate of 36.7 per cent, and Oxfordshire County Council says it is up on the year before.

The two Vale dates

The county runs ten sessions across Oxfordshire in September and October. Two of them are in this district, and one more, at Didcot, is a short drive from the eastern Vale.

The venues and postcodes are published on the county council’s free electric blanket testing page. The press release announcing the sessions gives only the towns, so if you have seen the dates elsewhere and could not work out where to go, that page is the one to use.

Times are not published in advance. The council says the full address and a specific time slot are given when you book.

What makes a blanket fail

The council lists the faults that will fail a blanket, and the first one catches a lot of people out. Any blanket over ten years old with no safety features built into the controller fails on age alone.

The others are:

• voltage leaking to the surface of the blanket
• elements that can rub together because they move around inside the blanket, which risks a short circuit
• elements that are not secured inside the blanket and are exposed at the surface
• power lead fasteners that are broken and cannot be secured
• a worn surface that exposes the elements

Cllr Kate Gregory, the county council’s cabinet member for public health and inequalities, said the council has offered the checks free for 26 years, and that “even quite new blankets can fail”.

What it means for you

If you have an electric blanket in a cupboard in Abingdon, Wantage or the villages, this is the cheapest safety check you will get, and the September and October dates are before the weather turns.

• Book first. Places are limited and the council says the tests are normally very popular. Walk-ins are not the advertised route.
• Book online through the county’s electric blanket testing form, by phone on 01865 895999 (option three), or by email to duty.officer@oxfordshire.gov.uk. The service page also gives 01865 519800.
• If you cannot get there, ask for a collection. The council runs a limited collection service for people who cannot bring a blanket to an event, and it collects and returns it. You have to say you need it when you book.
• Tea and biscuits are laid on, and Trading Standards, Age UK, the district councils and public health staff attend with advice on staying warm and well.

Getting to the Abingdon session is straightforward: the fire station is on Ock Street, close to the town centre car parks listed on our roadworks and travel page, where the first hour is free.

Sources

• Oxfordshire County Council: “Think winter safety this summer: free electric blanket checks return”, 28 August 2026, for the session dates, the 920 tested and 338 failed figures, the booking routes and the quote from Cllr Kate Gregory.
• Oxfordshire County Council: Free electric blanket testing, for the venues and postcodes, the list of faults that fail a blanket, the collection service and the 01865 519800 number.
• Oxfordshire County Council electric blanket testing booking form.