ALMOST two-thirds of second hand electrical items bought at random by Greater Manchester trading standards officers had potentially lethal defects.

And out of a total of 80 items bought by the investigating team, only ONE was without some kind of fault.

The survey was carried out to examine the safety of second hand electrical equipment on sale to the public throughout Greater Manchester.

Each item bought was tested by experts and 68 per cent were found to have serious safety defects which could have electrocuted or burned the user or started a fire.

Almost all the rest had a range of minor defects and only one appliance was found to be in a satisfactory condition.

Another cause for concern was that 33 of the items tested had no instructions to tell consumers how to use them safely.

All but a few failed to comply with the Plugs & Sockets Regulations, meaning they either had no mains plug fitted or were fitted with a plug which was not of a safe design.

Investigations are continuing and trading standards officers are warning those who sold unsafe electrical equipment that they may well face legal action. The maximum penalty for an offence under these regulations is a fine of £5,000 and six months imprisonment.

Cllr Max Jones, chairman of the Association of Greater Manchester Authorities Public Protection Committee, said: "The results of this survey are very worrying. The sale of unsafe, second hand electrical appliances could put the lives of unsuspecting members of the public at risk.

"Trading standards officers are determined to stamp this trade out and will not hesitate to take legal action against second hand dealers who break the law. Those dealers who continue to flout these laws must realise that they face stiff penalties for doing so and any unsafe electrical equipment may be seized and destroyed."

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