Anyone who owns an IKEA safety gate is urged to stop using it immediately after children were injured in a series of accidents.

The Swedish furniture giant has issued an urgent recall after receiving several reports of the PATRULL gates swinging open unexpectedly - causing children to fall down the stairs.

Some were injured and needed medical attention.

Customers who have the gates are asked to bring them back into any IKEA store, without the need for a receipt, for a refund.

An independent investigation has found the locking mechanism is not reliable, posing a risk for small children.

IKEA spokesman Maria Thörn said: "At IKEA, we have a zero tolerance regarding child safety.

"We want to offer safe products and we believe that children are the most important people in the world.

"Whenever we are made aware of a possible safety issue with our products, we investigate thoroughly.

"We cannot accept that there could be a risk of injury while playing and as an immediate and precautionary action we have decided to recall all PATRULL safety gates."

The gates affected are called PATRULL, PATRULL KLÄMMA and PATRULL FAST.

For more information, call IKEA on 0203 645 0010.