£300,000+ worth of unsafe items detained at East Midlands Airport
Leicestershire trading standards officers – supported by National Trading Standards Safety at Ports & Borders Teams- are advising online shoppers to buy electrical items only from known and reputable retailers.
The advice has been issued following an increase in the number of unsafe goods being detained at East Midlands Airport as part of a National Trading Standards operation with UK Border Force officials.
The operation has resulted in more than £300,000 worth of unsafe goods being detained, including jewellery, toys and cosmetics. Most of the items are being destroyed if they cannot be modified to meet safety regulations.
The items detained include motor-powered hover-boards, which were found to have dangerous charging adapters and unsafe batteries.
Hair-straighteners have also been found to be dangerous because of a lack of wiring insulation next to the heat pads.
All of the unsafe items detained were destined for small online sellers.
David Bull, head of Leicestershire County Council’s trading standards, said: “We know, for example, these hover-boards are on a lot of Christmas wish-lists, but some small online sellers are not ensuring they comply with UK and EU electrical safety standards.”
Lord Toby Harris, Chair, National Trading Standards Board, said:
"Our teams at East Midlands Airport and other border points have seen a significant spike in the number of unsafe electrical items arriving at national entry points in recent weeks.
“We suspect that most of these are being imported for onward sale domestically as Christmas approaches – we urge consumers to be on their guard when shopping online, do some research before they buy and be wary of deals that look too good to be true.”
People are being encouraged to report any sellers, websites or products they’ve received that they suspect of being unsafe to the Citizen’s Advice consumer helpline on 03454 04 05 06.
Anyone in Leicestershire, who regularly buys goods to sell to others, needs to comply with business laws and they can get advice from our business advice team on 0116 305 6533 or http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/business
Notes to Editors
About National Trading Standards
National Trading Standards delivers national and regional consumer protection enforcement. Its Board is made up of senior and experienced heads of local government trading standards from around England and Wales with an independent Chair. Its purpose is to protect consumers and safeguard legitimate businesses by tackling serious national and regional consumer protection issues and organised criminality and by providing a “safety net” to limit unsafe consumer goods entering the UK and protecting food supplies by ensuring the animal feed chain is safe.