One in 20 Brighton and Hove homes has a dangerous gas cooker, boiler or fire, despite the city being named the safest in Britain.

The Gas Safe Register, which released the data to mark Gas Safety Week, also warned people against illegal fitters who leave homes in peril.

The organisation has published an interactive map which pinpoints the most hazardous postcodes in the country.

Russell Kramer, chief executive of Gas Safe Register, said: “Gas safety is a life or death matter and something that shouldn’t be ignored.”

People are aware of the potential risks of unsafe gas work and they know what they should be doing to keep themselves safe.

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But he added: “Not everyone is acting on that information.”

The map reveals Brighton’s The Lanes as the most risky area in the city in terms of unsafe gas appliances, listing 17.

There were also 14 dangerous installations between Kingsway and Western Road in Hove and 12 faulty devices around St James’s Street in Brighton.

The overwhelming majority of unsafe gas appliances were boilers, but the Gas Safe Register also highlights cookers and gas fires in its findings.

Unregistered cowboy fitters are a significant cause of the problem.

Of the illegal gas fitting jobs investigated in the south east, nearly two thirds (64%) left their victims’ homes unsafe, and one in five were so dangerous that the gas supply had to be cut off immediately.

In total 31 people have been killed from gas-related incidents in the last three years, with more than 1,000 people maimed and injured.

Mr Kramer hopes to see millions of people using the gas map to better understand how they can protect themselves.

He said: “Our messages this Gas Safety Week are simple – get appliances checked every year, sign up for our reminder service and only use a Gas Safe-registered engineer.

“It could save yours and your family’s lives.”

Check the safety of your neighbourhood at staygassafe.co.uk.