The family have since had to leave the home due to amount of ash

Mrs Clarke said she refused Hotpoint's offer to replace the machine

Britain could be in the grip of a new white goods menace after a family kitchen was destroyed - by an exploding dishwasher.

Terrified Kelly Clarke, 35, was preparing for her daughter's seventh birthday party when she noticed smoke billowing from the machine.

Mrs Clarke, her mother Carol and two-year-old son Finley were lucky to escape the fire unscathed as flames began to billow out.

It engulfed their entire kitchen and the family had to evacuate their home after the Hotpoint then exploded.

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Kelly Clarke, far right pictured with husband Scott, son Finley, two, and daughter Isabelle, seven, is furious after the dishwasher 'exploded' and caused a huge fire in her kitchen, left

Devastation: The remains of the burnt-out kitchen after the dishwasher exploded

Many homes and kitchens have recently been damaged by malfunctioning fridges, freezers, cookers, washing machines and tumble dryers.

But now dishwashers have been added to the list after the devastating incident at the family home in Basildon, Essex.

The mother-of-two was setting up decorations for her daughter Isabelle's birthday, which was cut short by the fire which destroyed her home.

Now Mrs Clarke, her husband Scott, 37, and their two children have been forced to move out of the three-bed home in which is covered in a thick layer of ash.

She said Hotpoint, who have had numerous tumble dryers and washing machines explode in recent months, offered her a replacement appliance, but she refused.

She said: 'I am livid. I do not want any Hotpoint appliance in my home ever again.

'I had the day off work because it was my daughter's seventh birthday and had the dishwasher on as normal.

'I heard a bang from the kitchen and there was smoke coming from the dishwasher.'

Mrs Clarke described how the machine nearly exploded in her face and she was left in tears as she watched her house go up in flames.

She said: 'There was less than 30 seconds between hearing that huge bang and sitting on the ground outside my house watching it burn.

'I was panicking, it was so awful.

Pictured: The burnt-out wreckage of the washing machine, which the family had only had for five years

'After hearing the back, I ran into the kitchen and went to open the dishwasher, but noticed the little salt light on was orange and realised it was a flame.

'I am so lucky I didn't open it because it would have blown up in my face.

'I got everyone outside and we watched as entire house was engulfed in smoke and fire.'

The family are now forced to live with Mrs Clarke's parents Ray, 60, and Carol, 56.

After firefighters successfully put out the blaze, they were forced to break two windows in the smoke-logged house.

Mrs Clarke added: 'After an hour they said I could go back in. My mum had gone to pick up Isabelle from school and I was just sitting on the stairs alone..

WHAT SHOULD WORRIED TUMBLE DRYER OWNERS DO? Whirlpool Indesit said owners are being asked to contact the company if they believe their machine is one of those covered by the alert. It will arrange to modify them. However, it has no way of knowing the location of all the dryers as the UK has no central register to identify who buys and owns the appliances. The company is advising worried customers to visit an online model checker to find out if their machine is a fire risk. These can be found at http://safety.hotpoint.eu or http://safety.indesit.eu Advertisement

'I had to ring my husband to say our house was on fire. It was heartbreaking.

'I was in tears, completely distraught. Everything was black. It was horrible.'

Estate agent Mrs Clarke said the smoke is so bad that if she sits on the sofa, puffs of smoke come out of it.

She said: 'The machine was working absolutely fine, it has never smoked before and if it had I would have got rid of it.

'Hotpoint said they'll take it away to investigate it, but we can't live there now.

'Our entire kitchen is burnt. It'll be months before we can live there again. If you sit on the sofa, smoke comes out of it.'

Mrs Clarke has since slammed Hotpoint for initially offering to repair the scorched machine, which the family had only had for five years.

She said: 'Hotpoint told me they would repair it. I was like 'you do realise it's a burnt out wreckage?'

'It was lucky I was in the house planning Isabelle's birthday because if i wasn't the whole house could have burned down.'

A spokesperson for Essex County Fire and Rescue confirmed they were called to Mrs Clarke's home to put out the fire.

A spokesperson said: 'Firefighters were called to a dishwasher on fire in a end of terrace house.

'On arrival, crews reported the house was heavily smoke logged.

'Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus used two hose reel jets to extinguish the fire by 14:36hrs.'

A spokesman for Hotpoint said: 'Safety is our number one priority and we investigate all reported incidents thoroughly as soon as we are made aware of them.