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Online marketplace platforms have been called on to take more responsibility for the products they sell after dangerous products were found for sale on several sites by West Sussex Trading Standards.

As part of an investigation, officers purchased phone and tablet chargers, food blenders, teething rings for babies, and Christmas lights from a range of online platforms.

Safety testing confirmed that 80 per cent of the products were dangerous.

Some even posed a risk of electric shock or choking and the consequences for consumers could have been fatal.

Phone and tablet chargers were amongst the items purchased from online marketplace platforms by West Sussex Trading Standards officers for safety testing

Peter Aston, West Sussex Trading Standards team manager, said: “Online marketplaces currently have very limited responsibilities for product safety and they don’t have to make any checks on the products they allow to be advertised.

“The only time they are legally obliged to take action is when a product is reported to them as being unsafe by Trading Standards.

“Many of the products appearing on these sites are supplied directly from abroad with no UK company involved. This makes it incredibly difficult for us to hold them to account.

“The results of our work and our concerns have been forwarded to the Office of Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) who are reviewing the whole enforcement regime of product safety and we hope that this review will see changes made in this area.”

Anyone who feels they have purchased an unsafe product online should contact Trading Standards via Citizens Advice on 08082231133 or online via www.westsussex.gov.uk/tsreport

Dangerous products found on online marketplaces by West Sussex Trading Standards