No, not OK - unless there is a fuse in the extension. By doing what you have done, you have avoided the 13A fuse which would normally be in the plug and would therefore limit the total amount of current that could be drawn by what was plugged into the extension sockets. . The 4 outlets of the extension could theoretically draw a total of 52A (13A x 4), which is undoubtedly far far too much for the extension cable - hence potentially dangerous.
I don't think an in-line fuse would be practical. Other than putting the plug back on, I think you have two main options - you could insert a 'fused connection unit' (FCU) into the cable (which would have to be attached to, or sunk into, the wall) - or else you could look for an extension which had a built-in 13A fuse. In my experience, 6-way extensions quite often have them, but 4-way ones seemingly not so commonly. Other people may have other ideas.
Why didn't you just do it properly and add more sockets to the circuit?
John are you suggesting an extension unit with a fuse built into it?
Yep, although I think we're all agreed that using an 'extension unit' of any sort is not an ideal (or 'nice') way of doing things.
Primarily the downstream 13A fuse (through which any overload current would have to pass). Provided that certain conditions are satisfied (which they almost certainly would be), the regs allow for downstream overload protection following a reduction in cable CSA. The only thing that the fuse would not protect against is a (true, 'negligible impedance') fault (not 'overload') in that length of cable itself, and the "30-odd Amp CU fuse/MCB' would almost certainly afford adequate fault protection (which is one of the conditions for downstream overload protection being allowed).
It would obviously be better/safer if the cable was somewhere where it was not at risk of mechanical damage (and maybe the OP does intend to attach the extension to a wall). However, the cable itself obviously cannot create 'an overload', the only risk being that, due to damage, it would develop a 'fault' (i.e. an L-N or L-E 'short') - and, as I said the 30A/32A fuse/MCB in the CU would almost certainly provide adequate protection against such a fault. That's why it is 'allowed'.
No-one has suggested that it necessarily is a ring final. In fact, being a garage, it very probably isn't.
That's theoretically all correct, but I've yet to see an extension lead which doesn't use the smallest possible cable, namely usually 1.25mm - hence not satisfactorily protected by a 16A (let alone a 20A) MCB/fuse. However, I suppose it's possible that the OP is lucky (and also has a 16A MCB).
That's a good point (in terms of regulations), which the OP has really brought upon himself by hard-wiring the extension. It's obviously all a bit silly, since if he merely plugged in the extension, in the intended fashion, there wouldn't be any requirement for RCD protection!
Quite so - or, in the OP's case, put it back!
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