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About 400,000 Mercedes-Benz cars are being recalled by Daimler in the UK over a potential airbag safety issue.

The firm's safety recall covers more than a million vehicles worldwide, including 495,000 in the US.

The recall is not related to the exploding Takata airbag scandal, and there have been no fatalities.

The problem affects certain A, B, C, and E-Class models, together with CLA, GLA and GLC vehicles, built between November 2011 and July 2017.

The fix for the airbag issue takes only an hour to perform.

Warning light

A Mercedes-Benz spokesperson told the BBC that the airbag issue only affected certain vehicles in "rare circumstances".

"If the steering column module clock spring is broken and the wiring components are not sufficiently earthed, this could lead to an electrostatic discharge which could inadvertently deploy the driver's airbag," the spokesperson said.

The cars are safe to drive under normal operating conditions, but if the driver airbag warning light comes on, customers should call roadside assistance or contact their nearest retailer.

Mercedes-Benz will contact all customers whose cars may be affected by the airbag problem, and ask them to bring their vehicle in.

The work is performed free of charge and only takes an hour, after which the car is safe to drive as normal.