A pensioner has been awarded compensation for injuries caused by a “toxic sofa”.

Maurice Heminsley, 68, of Willenhall, West Midlands, was last month offered an undisclosed four-figure payout for blisters and burns which appeared after he sat on his living room furniture.

Mr Heminsley was hospitalised in November 2007, several days after buying a £1,100 imported Chinese sofa from Furniture Warehouse in Dudley. He was suffering from rashes across his neck and back. Weeping sores on his legs took almost three months to heal.

Mr Heminsley’s sister, Joyce Barham, 60, said: “It was like someone was pouring hot water over him. Maurice had been suffering for more than a week before he finally confided in us that he had a painful rash.”

In 2007 dermatologists discovered a link between the burns and an anti-mould agent used in warehouses known as dimethyl fumarate (DMF). The fungicide, which was packed into sofas in China to protect them from humid conditions, can evaporate in warm conditions and soak through clothes on to skin.

DMF was banned by the European Commission earlier this year. But thousands of “toxic sofas” were imported to countries, including Britain, in 2007 and 2008.

At the end of this month, a group case will be heard at the Royal Courts of Justice on behalf of 2,000 consumers seeking compensation from Argos, Walmsleys, Land of Leather and a handful of smaller retailers. All the sofas have been traced to two companies in China - Linkwise and Eurosofa. A further 3,000 cases involving sofas from different manufacturers are currently being investigated.

Richard Langton, a partner at Russell, Jones & Walker, the law firm that represents the group claimants, said that in many instances symptoms were compounded by people sitting at home recovering from their mystery illness. “A lot of people were making things worse without even realising it,” he said.

“One of the main problems is psychological,” he added. “Their home is their castle. When they find that the sofa is the cause of their problems they find it distressing.”

Toni Long of solicitor Irwin Mitchell, who represented Mr Heminsley, said it had taken her client a long time to admit his injuries. “He was quite embarrassed about the situation,” she said. “He lived on his own.”

Mr Heminsley, meanwhile, is keen to put his ordeal behind him.

"The settlement means I can now put this really painful episode in the past,” he said.

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