Deaths caused by exploding cookers and babies strangled in their cots are among the exposés being revisited when Watchdog returns.

Lynn Faulds Wood, 65, from St Margarets, presented investigative BBC television show Watchdog for 10 years from 1985 alongside her husband John Stapleton.

She returns to our screens next week on Watchdog Test House, revisiting some of the most dramatic investigations over the years.

Ms Faulds Wood said her methods of research included trawling through accident and death data to see what was causing fatalities.

She said: “I was looking at babies being strangled in their cots and discovered there were trapping hazards sticking out on the sides that didn’t need to be there.

“When I started out, I do not think there was a lot of interest in making things safe.

“For example, tumble-driers would turn on when the door closed so children were suffering terrible injuries, burns, when they hid inside them.”

Possibly her greatest revelation was the danger of pen lids that did not have the air holes in them. They do now, as a result of the show.

The first show in the series features the story of how two men died as a result of a Beko cooker.

She said: “Carbon monoxide fumes were released into the house when the grill was used with the door closed.

“Two young men were killed, it was extremely sad.”

“There are actually quite a lot of things in our homes that have been recalled but people don’t always see the notices because they look like adverts.”

The new series is co-presented by newsreader Sophie Raworth, also from St Margarets, who Ms Faulds Wood has known for a long time.

She added: “I first met Sophie when he was 14 and did work experience on Junior Watchdog.

“Sophie is great. She is a lovely person although we didn’t film together on the show - I filmed my part, she filmed hers and then it was all stuck together.

“It was good to look back on my work as I hadn’t seen it in some time. Lives have been saved and injuries avoided because of it.”

The pair also appeared together on the One Show sofa on Wednesday night.

Watchdog Test House airs on BBC1 daily for three weeks from Monday, March 10, at 11.45am.

To check if you own a product that has been recalled, visit recalluk.com.