Sony is recalling 3.5 million faulty power adaptors for its PlayStation 2 computer games console in Europe, Japan and the United States because of safety concerns.

In America, there have been two reports of minor burns, one minor shock and four reports of property damage from users of the games console after power adaptors overheated.

The adaptors were made between August and December last year for the slimline PlayStation 2. About 2.3 million of the affected machines were sold in Europe, with the remaining 1.2 million sold in Asia, Australia and North America.

It is likely that some of these units may have been on sale after these dates, Sony said today. The company added that the recall was a precautionary measure and that no other PlayStation 2 units were affected.

PlayStation 2 owners are advised to visit www.ps2ac.com to determine if their adaptors are being recalled.

Owners can also arrange for a replacement by contacting the dedicated recall Helpline, the number for which can be found in the consumer alerts to be published in newspapers from tomorrow.

The timing of the recall is unfortunate for Sony, which has recently launched the PlayStation Portable (PSP), a console it hopes will become the next must-have gadget. It is also preparing for the launch of the next-generation PlayStation 3 console. The company declined to give details on the cost of the PS2 recall.

According to the US Consumer Product Safety Commission, Sony received 38 reports of the adaptors overheating.

US owners can obtain additional information by calling 1-888-780-7690 or www.us.playstation.com.

In February, Microsoft asked customers to return more than 14 million power adaptors for its Xbox games console for similar reasons. In August, Apple Computer recalled 28,000 computer batteries after overheating problems were found.

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