We were installing a shower in Kessingland and had to move a wall unit screwed to the wall above the consumer unit. I was unscrewing the final screw when there was a loud bang, my hand,still holding the drill was blown backwards and the screw flew out of the wall past my right ear. The smell of burning electrics filled the smoky air and a burnt hole was now where the screw had been.

After the shock had subsided we investigated the problem. The screw had been driven right through the socket circuit. The screw head must have been live for years, the person putting the wall unit up obviously unaware!

We did an IR (Insulation Resistance) Test putting 250 volts down the cable to test the insulation, the result 0.14 megohms. The wiring regs state insulation should be a minimum of 1 megohms and the NICEIC state 2 megohms tested at 500 volts. Obviously with such a low reading on 250 volts we didn't bother with the higher voltage test.

We've now got the lovely job of stripping the cable out and replacing.

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