Users of Nokia mobile phones worldwide have been warned that they could be in possession of faulty phone batteries.
The company is investigating 100 reported incidents to date of batteries overheating while charging. The global mobile phone manufacturer has issued a product warning for its consumers following reports that up to 46 million batteries used in some of the company's handsets could be faulty.
Nokia said the warning applies only to a specific model of battery, manufactured by Japanese company Matsushita between December 2005 and November 2006.
The Matsushita Battery Industrial Company of Japan is one of several suppliers used by the Finnish company to produce collectively more than 300 million "BL-5C" batteries.
Nokia says some of the batteries produced by Matsushita during this period could experience overheating triggered by a short circuit while charging, thus causing the battery to dislodge.
It says no serious injuries or property damage have been reported.
"According to Nokia's knowledge, this issue does not affect any other use of the mobile device", the company said.
Nokia Ireland said Irish consumers had not been affected to date. It emphasised that not all BL-5C models are at risk of over-heating.
Consumers wishing to monitor their battery are advised to check the product advisory page on Nokia's website (www.nokia.com/batteryreplacement/en/).