‘Tis the season to be jolly, but having too much Christmas spirit could end in disaster for homes and their owners.
Home and Garden on Female First
That’s according to new research released today by MORE TH>N, which reveals how very merry Brits have inflicted an estimated £685m worth of drunken damage on their homes at Christmas through fires, floods and breakages.
For millions Christmas day wouldn’t be complete without enjoying a few drinks amongst family and friends. However, for the vast majority of those surveyed by MORE TH>N, moderation isn’t a mantra they live by come December 25, with 82 per cent admitting they always indulge in a tipple too far. What’s more, one in 10 said they normally have their first alcoholic drink before 9:00am, while a quarter completely lose track of how much alcohol they consume over the course of the day.
Although Santa Claus can expertly navigate a chimney and commandeer a sleigh after countless sherries, it would seem that Brits have trouble orchestrating even the simplest of Christmas traditions due to alcohol, with almost 1.6 million properties across the UK impacted last year as a result of merry mishaps.
Chief amongst these was accidentally starting a kitchen fire while drunkenly cooking Christmas dinner (1.29 million incidents). This was followed closely by leaving taps running and flooding the kitchen (1.25 million incidents), falling over when drunk and smashing new Christmas presents or valuable items (1.21 million incidents) and starting inebriated infernos by forgetting to blow out candles (792,000 incidents).
While Christmas is a family affair, men are undoubtedly the biggest offenders when it comes to wrecking the house, being responsible for 73 per cent of all the damage reported. However, it would seem women take the crown when it comes to pound-for-pound damage, racking up a bill of £504 per incident compared to £413 for men.
Looking at levels of alcohol-related destruction across the country, the South West is by far the worst winter blunder-land, with £792 household damage caused in every drunken incident. Next up were homes in the South East (£750) and the West Midlands (£648), while households in the East Midlands reported the lowest levels of damage in the country (£264).
Janet Connor, Managing Director for MORE TH>N, commented: “Christmas is one of the few times of the year where we can put our feet up and indulge without feeling guilty. However, as this research shows, it doesn’t take much for a merry Christmas to turn into a messy Christmas. By planning ahead and being more mindful of the problems that can occur, homeowners can ensure their homes are more Santa’s grotto than Santa’s blotto and prevent a costly incident from occurring.”
MORE TH>N recommends the following advice to avoid Christmas calamities in the home this year:
- Never cook Christmas dinner when you’ve had one too many drinks. Remember, the only thing that should be flambéd is the Christmas Pudding;
- Store any valuable items or new Christmas presents safely away to avoid them being broken;
- Keep the festive lighting to the Christmas tree – leave the candles alone if you’ve gone a tipple too far;
- Alcohol and kitchen chores don’t mix well. Leave the washing-up until the next day if you want to avoid an un-festive flood;
- It’s easy to forget the little things after a few drinks, but do make sure you remember to lock the doors before calling it a night - Christmas is high season for burglary;
- If you go out for the evening to enjoy some drinks with friends remember to remove any obvious signs that nobody is at home;
- Whether or not you let your hair down this Christmas, it always pays to keep your guard up - ensure that your burglar alarm is in good working order before you start to celebrate.
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