Fergison praises 'Enders poisoning plot

EastEnders star Cheryl Fergison has praised the soap for raising awareness of carbon monoxide poisoning in her character's latest storyline.

Tonight's episode of the BBC drama will see the actress's alter ego Heather Trott lose consciousness after inhaling the toxic gas due to a faulty boiler at her flat.

The boiler problem explains Heather's recent ill health as she has appeared to be suffering from flu in recent weeks.

Speaking on This Morning today, Fergison explained: "Carbon monoxide poisoning is something that you can't smell - so it's not like going in and smelling gas. It's something that happens if you're in a confined space that it's happening in, and it affects people.

"People can literally go to sleep and not wake up. I think it's a subject that people don't really know much about."

She continued: "There are symptoms but it's very similar to flu and cold, so you get dizziness, nausea, breathlessness and all those kinds of symptoms that are really like cold. It's only when you go outside and you're not within that place that it's happening in that you get better, so I guess you could tell if you're getting better outside that there's a problem inside your home."

The actress spoke about the use of carbon monoxide detector devices, which can be purchased inexpensively to protect people from the dangers of the gas - known as the "silent killer".

Discussing EastEnders' decision to highlight the issue, Fergison added: "It is good. I mean, people get leaflets through the door, but you tend to just chuck it to the side and you might not read it. But if you've got something like EastEnders that deals with and tackles these things, then people might look into it."

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