Around 65,000 hi-tech hot water bottles, similar to the one which killed a grandmother, are still being used by members of the public.

The alarming numbers emerged at the inquest of Florence Sutton, who died last November after her micro-warmer exploded, covering her legs and stomach with a boiling gel.

Boots, which marketed the bottles as a medical device, is still trying to recall the potentially-dangerous rubber heaters.

Head of medical services at Boots, Graham Marshall, told the jury that 85,000 bottles had been returned out of 150,000 sold by the company.

He said: "We are still trying to persuade people to return the rest. We issued recall notices after customers complained saying the bottles leaked and again after Mrs Sutton's death."

Mrs Sutton, 90, of Glenmere Park Avenue, Thundersley, was rushed to Southend Hospital with horrific burns after the device burst in her lap.

She was transferred to Victoria Hospital in East Grinstead, Surrey, where she later died following complications resulting from her injuries.

Mrs Sutton's son, John, of Borrowdale Road, Thundersley, bought her the bottle as a Christmas present.

He tried to persuade her to return it after Boots wrote to him warning him of the dangers.

However Mrs Sutton argued the bottle, which just had to be popped in the microwave to heat it, gave her a lot of comfort and she refused to give it up.

Boots ran a test on the micro-warmer, supervised by the Government medical devices agency, and decided the thermal heater had been damaged through over heating, making it more likely to burst.

However Mr Sutton, 61, told the court he had put a red mark on his mother's microwave, at a lower setting than that specified by Boots, to ensure she didn't overcook the bottle.

There was no suggestion the bottle bought by Mr Sutton was faulty.

In his summing up coroner Dr Peter Dean said: "It was a tragedy she died in this way but I hope any publicity of this case will persuade others to hand in their micro-warmers and prevent any other tragedies like this happening again."

The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.

Anger - Florence's son John Sutton who bought her the water bottle

Picture: ROBIN WOOSEY

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.