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Mercedes has announced it is recalling around 400,000 vehicles in the UK after being alerted to incidents of airbags accidentally deploying.
The fault is centred around a spring in the steering column, which could cause connected wires to short-circuit and trigger the airbags prematurely.
The recall is reported to apply to cars and SUVs including certain A-Class, B-Class, C-Class and E-Class models, as well as CLA, GLA and GLC vehicles, built between November 2011 and July 2017.
Mercedes says there have been "around 30" incidents of airbags spontaneously inflating worldwide, but stressed that there were no fatalities or serious injuries.
The statement issued by Mercedes said it will contact the owners of the models affected shortly, but, as a precaution, it urged drivers not to use their vehicles if the airbag warning light was lit in red on the dashboard.
"If the steering column module clock spring is broken, the driver airbag warning light will be displayed in the instrument cluster, as well as a red airbag warning lamp," the statement said.
"In rare circumstances, if the clock spring is broken and the wiring components are not sufficiently earthed this could lead to an electrostatic discharge, which could inadvertently deploy the driver's airbag."
The manufacturer said affected customers would be contacted about having their car recalled and repaired.
The company said the fault was not related to the scandal at Japanese airbag manufacturer Takata, which has been linked to at least 19 deaths worldwide.
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