Nottingham’s Trading Standards service is urging people from Gedling who plan to visit this year’s Goose Fair to be on the lookout for dangerous toys and goods which may be on sale.

The warning comes after trading standards officers at Nottingham City Council seized almost 500 items on sale at the fair last year that were found to be unsafe or incorrectly labelled. These included novelty items, toys, fashion items and electrical goods.

Three traders were subsequently brought before the courts and fined for selling dangerous toys earlier this year. Trading Standards will have a presence at the fair again this year and will be checking for items which shouldn’t be on sale.

Community Protection’s Trading Standards team has now prepared some useful shopping tips to help visitors enjoy a safe trip to the fair, which starts tomorrow and runs until Sunday. These include:

• Check that toys are labelled and instructions given are clear and are followed
• Ensure that only toys suitable for the correct age group are given to under-threes
• Check that goods/toys are working before you give them to children to play with
• Toys and electrical goods should be marked with a CE symbol
• Ensure that children are supervised by an adult when they begin playing with a new item purchased at the fair
• Avoid buying the latest craze. Recent examples include electrical swords with a laser strength 16 times that permitted by legislation, large soft toys with loose eyes and noses which contravened safety regulations because of a choking risk
• Shoppers should never buy fireworks from a fair, market stall or car boot sale. No fireworks should be on sale at or near to Goose Fair as fireworks can only be sold from registered premises for a four-week period from October 15 until November 10. Unlicensed sellers may be selling fireworks which don’t meet the British Standard, so could be dangerous
• Never buy any high-value items because given the nature of a temporary fair, you can’t normally take things back. If there is a problem with your purchase you could find it very difficult to obtain redress.

Jane Bailey, Trading Standards manager at Nottingham City Council, said: “Goose Fair is a great event held every year and enjoyed by thousands of people. We want families to have a fun time but not face the potential dangers involved with buying an item from the fair which is unsuitable or dangerous.

“The points highlighted by the Trading Standards team are worth bearing in mind, and to further reassure the public we will have officers at the fair monitoring the items up for sale.”

• If shoppers experience problems with purchases made at the fair or they suspect that traders are selling unsafe items, they should report it to the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 03454 04050