Peterborough Trading Standards Officers urges families ‘not to toy with children’s safety’ this Christmas

The team are urging families to make sure toys are safe, and will not cause harm to youngsters.

The officers said that residents should think about where they are purchasing the toy from. Is it a reputable business or a local business that you can trust has taken care to check the safety of the products they are stocking?

Secondly, look for the signs that they have been approved for the UK market. Are the toys labelled with the name and address of the manufacturer or importer? Are they labelled with a CE mark and/or UKCA mark indicating they may have been tested against UK safety standards? If the toy contains button batteries, are they safely secured behind a screwed down flap? If any of these are missing, exercise extreme caution.

Thirdly, look at the price. If the price is too good to be true it may indicate that the item is counterfeit. Whilst genuine brands work hard to make sure their products are safe, those who deal in counterfeits do not. Often the parts are inferior, they may contain unsafe chemicals and of course won’t have passed any UK safety tests to make sure they are safe for a child.

Finally, you may find it useful to check if a product has been recalled. You can search recalled products by visiting Gov.uk.

Peterborough City Councillor Steve Allen, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Communities, said: “Our Trading Standards team has seen a steep rise in product safety issues over the past 2 years and I am keen that an unsafe product doesn’t ruin Christmas for any of our residents.

“I would strongly urge residents to buy from well-known, reputable sellers or local businesses that they can trust to have taken care over the safety of the products they are selling. And look out for the essential tell-tale signs that may indicate it hasn’t been confirmed as safe to sell on the UK market. Strangulation hazards, choking hazards, ingestion hazards, chemical hazards and finger traps are just some of the very real harms that children can be exposed to if a product has not been properly tested.”

The Child Accident Prevent Trust (CAPT) has a wealth of information on its webpages about the hazards to look out for and has produced a series of videos warning about dangerous toys and how to avoid buying them.