Instead of issuing a full recall in Europe Sony has advised us that that anyone who is concerned could request Sony to arrange for an engineer to come to their home and provide a free safety check on several of its TV models after a number of sets started smoking.

The company warned that a component used in eight different versions of its Bravia televisions may be faulty and could, in rare cases, overheat.

The models affected are all LCDs, sold inEuropesince June 2007.

They are: KDL-40D3400, KDL-40D3500, KDL-40D3550, KDL-40D3660. KDL-40V3000, KDL-40W3000, KDL-40X3000, KDL-40X3500.

630,000 of the TV’s have been sold in Europe.

Sony warned owners to be aware of any unusual noises, smells or smoking coming from their Bravia.

Anyone noticing those symptoms should unplug the power cable and stop using the set immediately.

The Bravia model name can be identified on the back of your TV set.

It can also be identified by pressing the menu button on the remote control, navigating to the settings menu, selecting the setup menu, selecting product information and pressing ‘OK’ to identify the model.