Poisonous dolls to fake 'Frozen' bracelets - some toys are a risk to health
Poisonous dolls
Last Christmas saw a warning issued by Trading Standards in Walsall after dolls were found to contain a poisonous chemical that caused cancer, deformities in unborn babies and infertility in men
The dolls with distinctive fruit-shaped heads were found on sale in shops in the Midlands.
The alert issued last Christmas came about after hundreds shared an article on the ITV News Central website from the year before, prompting a fresh look into the dolls being sold.
Doctors advised parents to keep the dolls away from their children, and Trading Standards officers went on hunts in markets to get as many off sale as possible.
Click here for all the details on our poisonous dolls story
Dangerous 'Worry Dolls'
Trading Standards teams in Leicestershire warned parents about 'Worry Dolls' in October.
They found three of the four dolls failed basic safety tests, with some potentially posing choking hazards and having hidden sharp points.
Children are supposed to tell the small doll their worries and put it under their pillow before they go to sleep after which a parent will carefully remove it. The child wakes in the morning to find the doll has gone, taking their worries with it.
Parents were told to look out for the CE mark on the dolls and make sure they had adequate labelling warning of the risks.
Fake 'Frozen' snap bracelets
In November, Nottinghamshire County Council issued a warning over 'snap bracelets' with counterfeit 'Frozen' branding.
They were found to be potentially harmful to children, because the plastic casing on the fake band was only very thin, and that it is likely to rip. That exposed a sharp, cut-up piece of metal that could cut a child's wrist.
A mother reported the items to Trading Standards after buying them online, and opening them up to find a cut-up tape measure inside.
More counterfeit 'Frozen' goods
The start of December saw a number of other counterfeit 'Frozen' items seized by Trading Standards.
They included children's hooded tops with cords that posed strangulation risks, and pyjamas and fancy dress costumes that were unlikely to meet 'flammability' standards.
A variety of further items with the branding on were seized including backpacks, umbrellas and dolls.
Christmas hats with strangulation risk
Eight Christmas-themed hats were seized in Nottinghamshire earlier this week, because the ties on them were thought to cause a strangulation risk to children.
They have a stuffed toy head of either a Santa, a reindeer or a snowman with ties that could form a noose.
It is not just toys that have concerned Trading Standards officers this year.
Below are links to other stories we've covered where items have posed a risk to the public: