Essex Trading Standards is warning parents of the dangers of unsafe toys after an investigation uncovered retailers selling products aimed at children with inadequate casing for batteries.

Ten toys were bought from discount stores and market stalls in Essex between November and January, three of which were found to have small batteries easily accessible to children.

If button batteries are swallowed, not only do they pose a choking risk they can also release an alkali that can permanently damage a child’s oesophagus.

All ten toys were tested for mechanical and physical risks. One - a toy car - also broke into small parts when dropped, posing a further choking hazard, and its packaging was a suffocation risk.

Following advice from Trading Standards, the business responsible for importing the toy car has had all remaining stock destroyed. Other businesses are liaising with Trading Standards and redesigning and relabelling toys to make them safe.

On 14 March Trading Standards Officers publicised the dangers of small batteries in toys to 300 Year 5 children from Uttlesford schools, at a careers fair hosted by Dunmow St Mary’s primary school.

Cllr Anne Brown, Cabinet Member for Corporate and Communities, said: "Parents should always check that the battery compartment for toys is secured by a screw, so that small children cannot swallow the batteries and cause life-changing injuries. You should always check the quality of the toy you’re buying and remove packaging, before giving them to young children."

“If your child swallows a button cell battery seek medical attention immediately as there are serious risks of internal chemical burns”