Hundreds of dangerous electrical items have been seized by North Tyneside Council’s trading standards team.
Based on intelligence received, trading standards officers visited a warehouse in the Benton area where they found hundreds of adaptors used to charge Apple devices as well as universal travel adaptors for charging laptops and mobile phones. All had been imported from China.
Samples were taken to the Tyne and Wear Trading Standards Joint Committee Laboratory at Gateshead where they were tested and found to be dangerous. Anyone using them could have suffered an electric shock.
Trading standards officers removed all the devices and are now carrying out enquiries into their importation.
Cllr John Harrison, cabinet member for Housing and Transport, said: “The safety and wellbeing of our residents is a top priority for the council.
“I welcome this work by our trading standards team. Lives would certainly have been put at risk if these dangerous electrical items ended up being used by the public.”
A spokesman for trading standards added: “These were dangerous products. They breached The Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 1994, The General Product Safety Regulations 2005 and The Plugs and Sockets etc (Safety) Regulations 1994.
“The AC adaptors breached safety regulations because: the manufacturer’s name or brand was not displayed; there was inadequate insulation between the primary and secondary circuits – this greatly increases the risk of electric shock; the electrical conductors were only connected via solder; and the three pins were too long.
“The universal travel adaptors breached safety regulations because the manufacturer’s name or brand was not displayed; the input frequency was not displayed; and the three pins were too long.”
The trading standards service is delivered on behalf of the council by its partner Capita.
ENDS
Capita Local Government, part of Capita plc, is dedicated to delivering outsourcing and professional services to the local government market and responsible for operating all of Capita's major local government and education partnerships. Employing over 8,000 people, Capita Local Government delivers a wide range of specialist services, including customer management, property development and regulatory services, educational transformation and support services and back office processing. Capita Local Government can also draw on specialist capabilities, such as ICT, HR and payroll from across the wider Capita group, to ensure the very best market knowledge and outcomes are achieved for customers.
In November 2012 the company entered into a partnership with North Tyneside Council to deliver a range of technical services: engineering; property; planning; building control and public protection.