Hundreds of 'dangerous' fake Frozen toys including Elsa dolls seized by Trading Standards

The counterfeit Disney items had loose parts which a child could swallow and poor electrical wiring that might have led to electrical shocks.

Some 1,960 fake toys were seized at the Port of Dover in Kent including 426 bogus versions of dolls from Disney's smash hit.

The imitation items, which were confirmed by Disney as counterfeit, were made in China and included copies of Queen Elsa and Princess Anna dolls.

Kent County Council trading standards manager Mark Rolfe said it marked one of the biggest hauls ever confiscated.

He said: "Not surprisingly, it was a very time-consuming task for our officers to go through the consignments and examine samples of every product.

"Some of the items we seized were clearly potentially dangerous and likely to be aimed at the Christmas retail market.

"We are pleased that we were able to protect the public from these shoddy goods and prevent any injuries they might have caused.

"Others were counterfeit, so purchasers would have been buying an inferior product to what they expected."

The fake Frozen toys were discovered by Trading Standards officers on December 12.

While on Monday around 3,000 sets of Christmas lights with poor electrical wiring were seized.

Some 170,000 other fake items which are believed to have originated from China were also confiscated.

The Frozen counterfeiters seemed to be trying to seize on demand for toys of the Disney blockbuster.

Leon Livermore, CEO of the Trading Standards Institute (TSI), warned parents to be wary of counterfeit goods.

He said: "There are significant risks to buying counterfeit goods, especially counterfeit electrical products which could cause fires or electric shocks or children's toys which could be untested and unsafe.
 
"At the same time, the sale of counterfeit branded merchandise funds crime. Counterfeiters do not comply with the sale of goods act or offer any form of guarantee, and they probably won't be around when things go wrong.
 
"Trading standards officers are on the frontline of consumer protection working hard with other authorities to remove dodgy goods from the market place.  But with the continuing savage cuts biting into the ranks of trading standards officers, we are increasingly concerned over their ability to sustain this work to protect consumers and honest businesses."

The Frozen Snow Glow Elsa is one of the must-have gifts this Christmas and stores across the country have been struggling to keep up demand for it.

The interactive doll sings, speaks and lights up and many retailers like Tesco, Toys R Us and Argos are listing the toy as "unavailable".

Demand is so high that eBay users have been selling genuine versions of the toy for £149.999 - a mark-up of 428 per cent on its official price of £34.99.

Sales of official dolls and merchandise linked to the Disney film are on course to hit all-time high for any movie franchise.

Frederique Tutt, global toys industry analyst for NPD, said: "New items have been launched, production has been increased to meet demand, and sales are getting stronger.

"We counted three Frozen dolls in the five best-selling toys last week alone.

"If Frozen continues at this level until Christmas, not only will the license keep top spot and get the license of the year accolade but it will also beat the all-time record of Toy Story 3 - in 2010 - in terms of toy sales."