A battery-powered portable cutting tool includes a housing, a cutting element, an electric motor to drive the cutting element to cut, a battery to supply electric current to the motor and a control circuit to control the supply of electric current to the motor from the battery. The control circuit may include a main switch and an auxiliary switch. The control circuit may have an active state in which the main switch allows electric current to flow to the motor and an inactive state in which the main switch does not allow electric current to flow to the motor. The operation of the auxiliary switch causes the control circuit to change between the active and inactive states. The auxiliary switch is arranged to determine whether the tool is in an inappropriate state to be used and, if so, cause the control circuit to change to the inactive state.
