Thousands of potentially deadly laptop chargers and leads have been seized in raids on three warehouses in Birmingham.
Following a tip-off, officers from Birmingham City Council’s Trading Standards team swooped on three different premises in Harborne and Nechells and seized more than 11,000 electrical goods that were destined to be sold through shopping websites run by businesses based across the country.
A spokeswoman for the team said the goods could have proved deadly as tests proved they flouted a series of safety checks, with some being found to have partially live pins on the plug sockets.
“We also seized documents clearly showing a highly-organised business importing goods from China that are being sold through online sites,” she said.
“To the untrained eye these items may look harmless, but our tests showed they don’t comply with British safety standards and could prove very harmful.
“This was a very successful operation resulting in the prevention of dangerous goods entering into the chain of supply to consumers.
“As the goods were due to be sold online throughout the country, this seizure is a good result not only for consumers in Birmingham but for those much further afield.
“It is imperative that consumers feel secure in the knowledge that the electrical goods they purchase are safe and can be relied upon and we will continue to protect shoppers.”
The spokeswoman said officers were continuing to investigate the firms involved. No arrests have yet been made.
Two thousand mobile phone chargers were seized in a separate raid last summer, after shoppers complained they exploded when they were plugged into electricity sockets.
Birmingham Trading Standards officers raided the warehouse in Hay Hall Road, Tyseley, after a tip-off from colleagues in Aberdeen.
Their Scottish counterparts had received complaints from consumers who claimed they had brought the lethal iPhone chargers for 99p each from shopping website eBay.
