Asian parents looking to buy a gift for their children will be considering themselves fortunate, after hundreds of potentially dangerous toys have been taken from a Birmingham wholesaler.
Scooters with riskily narrow handle bars and wheels and dolls, with heads that could easily be broken off, were seized by Birmingham City Council Trading Standards.
Officials targeted the Hockley firm, which couldn’t be named for legal reasons, after a tip-off from border control chiefs in Suffolk.
47 Happy Just See me scooters and dolls were tested on by scientists, which failed numerous safety tests.
According to reports, the scooters came in a packaging with very badly worded instructions on them.
Despite stating that they should not be used by children aged under eight, the scooters were too small to be used by youngsters aged under eight.
The dolls were also badly made and the heads could turn 360 degrees and could easily be pulled off.
There was no labelling on any of the toys, which meant that the items could not be traced back to the seller, importer or manufacturer.
However, it is believed that some of the toys made have already been imported into the city’s shops and could have been purchased by shoppers.
Hannah Davis, from Birmingham Trading Standards, said: “We urge shoppers to be vigiliant and to make sure that what they are buying is safe.
Legal and safe products must carry a label with a CE mark, which shows that the item meets all safety requirements.”
