No Fords built for the UK market are thought to have been affected by the recent mass recall by the US car maker.

Around 850,000 vehicles built for North American motorists have been recalled over a "potential issue" with airbag deployment systems.

The manufacturer believes that a problem with the installed equipment could lead to a short circuit which might prevent the airbags from being released correctly in the event of a car crash.

Among the models affected by the issue are the Fusion, the Escape and the Lincoln MKZ. A number of C-MAX cars built between 2013 and 2014 have also been recalled.

The airbags issue would be fixed free of charge by dealers, according to Ford, which also said there had been no reported injuries related to the problem.

Of the total recalled vehicles, 745,000 are believed to have been bought in the USA, 82,000 in Canada and 20,000 in Mexico.

Our breakdown insurance customers can rest assured that the issue appears to have only affected vehicles built in North American Ford plants. As yet, there are no reports of cars built in European factories having been affected.

Airbags are highly effective at minimising head injuries in the event of an accident, although in the UK and many other developed countries there is no legal requirement for vehicles to be fitted with the technology.

Ford operates a number of plants in Europe, with units in Romania, Portugal, France, UK, Spain, Germany, Belgium and Slovakia.