Prince Sir Ken Knight introduced delegates at the IFE's annual Conference and Exhibition to Prince Charles' Campaign for Wool, emphasising its fire safety benefit.

His Royal Highness Prince Charles wrote to delegates: 'The challenge of making our society truly sustainable faces us all. In every choice we make, we have the chance to give something back to nature, from which we have taken so much. That is precisely why, earlier on this year, I launched my Campaign for Wool.

'The campaign aims to highlight the many benefits of wool. As you well know, in addition to being perfect for clothing, wool actually makes us safer. Last year, Sir Ken told me that, as a firefighter, if he was tackling a blaze he would rather face rooms with wool carpets than rooms with carpets made from manmade fabrics.

'Wool is naturally fire-retardant to some 600 degrees, and will meet many fire regulation standards without the need for additional treatments. If it does catch fire it also produces far fewer toxic fumes, which are of course so destructive, than any artificial manmade fibre. When it comes to clothing, if a baby is swathed in polyester which catches fire, the clothing melts and burns its way into the infant's skin causing the most horrific injuries.

'Using wool in our homes not only keeps us healthier and safer - just think of the value of wool insulation in these terms, if nothing else - it protects a farming sector, a way of life and an environment which are facing terrible risk'.