A FILM to highlight the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning has been produced by the father of an ex-Watford Observer reporter who died while having a bath.

Katie Haines, 31, drowned when she was overcome by the gas and slipped under the water at her Berkshire home in 2010 just two months after she married husband Richard.

Her father Gordon Samuel appeared on London Live TV to promote a campaign for a change in the law to make the fitting of CO alarms mandatory when carbon-burning appliances are installed in homes.

He said: "The video was uploaded on Friday – it is a very strong, poignant film that covers all sections of society.

"Carbon monoxide is an indiscriminate killer, you will see on the film that it affects students, the elderly, it affects everyone.

"If Katie had a carbon monoxide alarm and it went off she would have been warned and got out of the house.

"The fire alarm [they bought] came with a free carbon monoxide alarm. They installed the fire alarm but not the carbon monoxide alarm – if they had, she would be alive today."

Carbon monoxide cannot be seen, tasted or smelt, and its symptoms such as headaches, nausea and dizziness can be confused with flu.

It kills 40 people in England every year, hospitalising 4,000 others.

The film by the Katie Haines Memorial Trust charity will be screened in cinemas and shows how easily the silent killer can strike.

Mr Samuel has also created an e-petition on the government website which triggers a Commons debate when it hits 100,000 signatures.

Visit www.no-to-co.co.uk to view and sign the document.