A GRANDMOTHER is seeking compensation after she was poisoned by her leather sofa and left with a painful skin rash.

Wendy Preston, 67, from Chipping Norton, developed a rash on her lower back, buttocks and thighs after buying the leather sofa as part of a three-piece suite from Argos in Witney, in July 2007.

She asked for the £600 chocolate brown sofa to be replaced four months later when a dermatologist at the Churchill Hospital in Oxford suspected the skin condition was connected to the sofa.

But the replacement leather sofa caused the same symptoms and so, in April, 2008, Mrs Preston asked the store to replace it with a beige fabric one. Her rash finally eased.

Mrs Preston, a former healthcare assistant from Walterbush Road, is one of 4,500 people nationwide taking legal action after they bought the sofas from Argos and two other retailers.

The sofas, which were made in China, were packed with sachets of a chemical to stop them from going mouldy when they were stored in humid conditions.

But the fine white powder, commonly known as DMF or Dimethyl Fumarate, got through the leather and Mrs Preston’s clothes.

The grandmother-of-10 said: “It was incredibly painful, with itching and burning starting on my lower back, buttocks and thighs and spreading right down to my feet.

“It affected me quite seriously and the doctor gave me antibiotics and a course of steroids before referring me to a dermatologist in Oxford.

“The dermatologist came to the conclusion that it was sofa dermatitis.

“It was the first case she had seen.

“When I kept away from the furniture and started using a deckchair instead, the symptoms went away.

“The rashes have cleared up, but I still get residual itchiness. You don’t ever imagine that you could get poisoned by your sofa.”

Mrs Preston, who lives with her husband Roy, added: “I am among the group taking a compensation claim to court with Russell, Jones & Walker solicitors, and I am expecting to hear any day what the decision is.

“At one point, I was receiving medical advice two or three times a week, and it caused a great deal of upset — my husband and my whole family were worried.”

Denise Bigwood, a spokesman for Argos, said: “The case is currently the subject of a group litigation order, so we are unable to comment on the specifics.

“However, Argos has already gone on record as saying that we have accepted legal responsibility to our customers.”

A statement on the Russell Jones & Walker website said: “Crystals contained in these sachets transform into toxic gas, particularly when exposed to heat.

“This can then pass through clothes, causing the rash.”

The European Union intends to pass a directive in May, requiring retailers to recall from sale any goods containing the chemical, and possibly to recall such goods from people’s homes, although it not clear how this would be implemented.

affrench@oxfordmail.co.uk