A similar shipment of more than 1,000 teddy bears, described as "cute but deadly", were also destroyed. Fake and unsafe toys were also among nearly 9,000 items seized by Manchester City Council officers following a raid on a business premises. Latest industry figures show that more than 4.2 million counterfeit products, including toys, worth £21million were seized by councils in 2018/19. "Not only is selling fake toys a crime, it harms and ruins the reputation of genuine traders, costs the economy millions in lost tax revenue and often funds organised crime. For online purchases, people should also check where a website domain is registered – many websites selling fake items have their domains registered in China.

Source: Daily Mirror December 10, 2019 16:54 UTC