Thousands of families could be in line for compensation after tests suggested numerous domestic appliances on sale in the UK use more energy than they claim.
Tests have found that several high street brands of washing machines, TVs, dishwashers and other goods overstate their energy efficiency ratings.
That could see consumers in line for compensation payments to make up for the difference in the real cost of running the appliances.
Volkswagen announced last week that it is to recall 8.5m diesel cars across the European Union after it admitted that 11m of its diesel cars worldwide were fitted with a device that manipulated emissions tests.
The National Measurement and Regulation Office (NMRO), the UK regulator, and Marke~~~~ch, an EU-funded programme, are carrying out separate testing programmes on electrical appliances.
The energy efficiency ratings products are sold with are based on tests carried out by the manufacturers themselves.
But both the NMRO and Market Watch have found products on sale that use more energy than claimed or fail to comply with efficiency rules.
The Energy Saving Trust, which leads the Marke~~~~ch programme, said it is testing 100 products on sale across Europe, including dishwashers, TVs, tumble driers and freezers.
So far it has found that out of 36 appliances tested 14 fall short in some way.
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