Adding a spur to a spur?

[al]

Due to awkward circumstances, I can't get under the floorboards to run a spur from the ring main to behind a fridge/freezer (currently on 4-gang). The nearest socket I've found is a spur itself unfortunately.

The current double socket is un-switched and only ever gets a hoover or battery charger plugged in. The new sockets I'm putting in will only ever have the fridge/freezer plugged in. Load wise, it's the same as it is now, but using proper wiring instead of a 4-gang.

How safe or not is it to run a spur from this spur? My thinking is that it might bridge the connection and not even work, not to mention be dangerous. Comments? Options?

a

[al]

Scrub that idea. I've pulled apart my kitchen units to get at the ring from the other side of the room. Will shoot it under the floor from there and use a junction box! Sounds a bit safer all in all ..!

a

[John Rumm]

In the situation you describe it would remain safe. However can you guarantee that the situation will never change in the future (perhaps after you sell the house etc)?

The correct way to run more than one single or double socket on a spur is to make it a fused spur. You may be able to achieve this by adding a FCU close to the existing double socket, and wiring such that the double socket and the new socket are both downstream of the fuse.

You will need to check that the existing spur really is a spur from a ring circuit (i.e. not a radial)[1] and also that if it is a spur it is the first accessory on it (i.e. check that someone else has not "extended" a spur already!)

[1] if it were a radial with appropriate protection then you could extend it with no further difficulty.