East Midlands Airport: Unsafe goods worth £17m seized

Items seized included electrical goods, toys, jewellery and cosmetics

More than £17m worth of unsafe or non-compliant goods have been seized at East Midlands Airport in the past year, Leicestershire County Council said.

Trading Standards said officers had seized more than 521,000 items at the Castle Donington airport.

The county council said these included electrical goods which could overheat and cause a fire and toys which failed to meet UK safety standards.

The seizures were carried out in partnership with Border Force.

Goods also included jewellery with high levels of hazardous metals and cosmetics containing toxic ingredients, the authority said.

The non-compliant seizures were mainly for incorrectly labelled goods and officers would then work with importers to help correct those issues and release the goods for sale, the council said.

Most of the seized items were due to be sold on large online marketplaces.

Councillor Deborah Taylor, cabinet member for regulatory services, said: "Our Trading Standards team, in partnership with Border Force, carries out vital work which enhances the safety of consumers in Leicestershire and the wider UK as it ensures that unsafe goods do not make their way into the supply chain.

"All these products which have been seized either present a danger to the public, or are substandard, so it is crucial that they are intercepted and either made safe or sent for recycling."