I have none to blame but myself for not checking out the kettle reviews before I bought this but my old kettle died on me and lest caffeine withdrawal get me before Amazon could deliver, my choice was between those on the shelves at the big Sainsburys.

And for just less than twenty quid, it was good value.

This kettle came from a good, reliable small appliance maker. It offered a concealed element, which was a step up from my old Morphy Richards and would make it easier to de-scale the kettle.

As I live in a part of London where the water can sometimes be closer to liquid stone than I and my unfortunate appliances would like, the washable limescale filter was very appealing as I don't always filter my water when in a hurry for my caffeine fix. The kettle filter has saved my gums from experiencing quite as many pokings with bits of limescale and my tea and coffee is also clearer, which is reassuring as well as pleasant.

But the combination of really hard water and a lid which does not fit as closely as it really should has already resulted in the occasional steam nips to my hands. It has also left the kettle furring up with limescale already and water-staining on the outside. The metal finish would look lovely in soft water areas, but in hard ones it does stain very quickly. The popping noise of the scale on the invisible element is also somewhat disconcerting.

It is a really quick kettle but maybe not one for hard water areas.