The property resembles a normal home from the outside

The innovative property - the first of its kind in Scotland - was launched in Aberdeenshire after it was devised by a group consisting of the local council, emergency services and a building company.

Its inventors said they hoped the design would dramatically reduce the number of people injured or killed in UK domestic accidents every year, which is currently sitting at 4,000 - more than are killed on the roads.

The Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA) also said that the four-bedroom safe house, which retails at �160,000, could provide a blueprint for all future homes.

Although the house, in Blackburn near Aberdeen, resembles a normal home from the outside, it contains a number of devices such as an intruder detection system and special thermostats to allow the delivery of hot water at a safe temperature.

It also contains many other simpler measures such as effective window locks and stair guards which could help reduce the number of young children injured in their thousands in falls every year.

The safe house project provides one opportunity to demonstrate the need for fire safety to be considered alongside crime prevention measures and the brigade is pleased to be part of a project aimed at making communities safer Gordon Gray Grampian Fire Brigade

Speaking from the house - which was built by the Stewart Milne Group - Christine Johnston, RoSPA's home safety liaison officer, said: "We want to see architects and developers working to eradicate accident blackspots around the home by designing properties with safety in mind.

"If they follow the lead taken by Stewart Milne Homes, they will be playing their part in reducing the appalling toll of 2.8m accidents in the UK each year."

The house was the brainchild of the Aberdeenshire Community Safety Project and was developed by Aberdeenshire Council, Grampian Fire Brigade, Grampian Police, RoSPA and the Stewart Milne Group.

Gordon Gray, an assistant divisional officer with Grampian Fire Brigade, said that even though some of the features in the safe house were more expensive, any home in the UK could be installed with relatively cheap but necessary safety items such as smoke alarms.

The house contains a great deal of safety measures

He said: "About 80% of our casualties occur as a result of accidental fires in people's homes and Grampian Fire Brigade is striving to reduce this threat to society through the promotion of fire safety initiatives, which include the installation of smoke alarms and domestic sprinkler systems into homes.

"The safe house project provides one opportunity to demonstrate the need for fire safety to be considered alongside crime prevention measures and the brigade is pleased to be part of a project aimed at making communities safer."

The safe house has been designed to tackle head-on some of the most common safety hazards in the home which result in horrific injuries being caused each year.

About 28,000 under-fives attend A&E departments each year after being poisoned accidentally and more than 45,000 after an accidental fall on stairs.