16 Feb 2012
A 12-year-old pupil at Sheffield High School has won a national poster competition aimed at highlighting the dangers of carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
Francesca Pitfield’s prize-winning poster, which shows a flame, was named the winner for the North of England, while the prize for the best poster in the South went to 11-year-old Isobel Porter from Hitchin.
The annual competition is run by CO-Gas Safety, an independent charity which aims to promote awareness of the dangers of CO poisoning in a bid to reduce the number of deaths and provides help for victims and their families.
Carbon monoxide is an odourless and colourless gas that causes the deaths of around 50 people and injures more than 200 every year.
Research by the charity, which was unveiled during the award ceremony at the House of Lords, shows that 622 people died of unintentional CO poisoning in the last 16 years, while 4,148 Britons escaped or were saved just in time.
Copyright Press Association 2012