Father's shock after Coca Cola power bank explodes, sending shrapnel flying around his Northampton home

Sean Pickford, of Weston Favell, bought a Diet Coke-shaped power bank from Halfords in Riverside for his son Lewis, aged 15, last week so he could charge his mobile phone.

Shortly after Lewis had plugged the metal can to recharge, he noticed smoke coming from it.

Mr Pickford said his son quickly unplugged the power bank, but was then forced to dive onto the sofa before it exploded, sending dozens of pieces of shrapnel around the room.

He said: “My son was really shaken up by it all. He was found sitting outside the house by a neighbour because he thought he’d burnt the house down.

“I’m shocked that something with Coca Cola branding bought from a retailer like Halfords could go wrong like this.”

Mr Pickford has now lodged a compensation claim with Halfords to pay for the damage caused to his home.

However, he said he was very satisfied with the way Halfords, who have now recalled the product, and Coca Cola had dealt with the situation.

A spokesman for Halfords said: “We take the quality and safety of our products extremely seriously, and have launched an immediate investigation into this matter and removed these products from sale after receiving a small number of customer complaints.

“We have recalled all three models of this product and are asking customers not to use it and to return it to their local Halfords shop to receive a full refund.

“Any customers who have any queries should contact our customer services team on 0345 504 53 53 or [email protected].”