A source close to 80’s Norwegian heartthrob Morten Harket, of synthpop sensations A-ha, has confirmed that the housewives’ favourite was rushed to hospital last week following a blaze at the house in Oslo he shares with bandmates Paul and Mags.

The band’s manager, Magnus Magnusson, advised us that “Morten was at home enjoying some downtime away from the pressures of being an international pop star when the fire started in his living room.

“He was able to escape without serious injury but was taken to Oslo A&E suffering from the effects of smoke inhalation which had damaged his 5 octave vocal range.”

Last night the Rochdale Herald spoke to Mr Harket who told us “I’ve been having problems with my telly. It hadn’t been working properly for a while and had developed an intermittent fault causing it to turn itself off and on. The other day I was watching Homes Under The Hammer when smoke started to pour out of a vent at the back and then it burst into flames. It frightened the living daylights out of me.”

He continued “I think it was down to where the telly was situated in the front room. It was right by the window and the sun always shines on my TV, which caused it to overheat.”

The Rochdale Herald understands Mr Harket owned a Samsung Satsuma SR35 49 inch Smart 4K Ultra HD TV with HDR. A leading consumer website advises not to position this model in direct sunlight as it is prone to overheating. They recommend locating the TV unit in an alcove or darkened area away from sources of solar radiation.

We tried to contact Samsung for a statement but were kept on hold for 10 minutes then told to select 1 for customer service or 2 for warranty queries so put the phone down.