More than 970 diesel heaters have been detained at the Port of Felixstowe, Suffolk Trading Standards has reported.
Consignments arrived at the Port in October and November and were stopped by the imports surveillance team at Suffolk Trading Standards.
The Vevor WF 5001 diesel heaters were found to be unsafe, with listings for all sellers removed on eBay.
The diesel heaters do not meet the requirements of the Supply of Machinery (Safety) Regulations 2008 because they could present the hazards of fire and death due to poor supporting installation information.
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In a statement Suffolk Trading Standards said: “Manuals supplied with the products failed to give measurements for installing and did not give the minimum distance the exhaust pipe can be installed from flammable material, or material that could give off poisonous fumes when heated, such as insulation material.
“No warning was provided about heat and dangers to the user if installed incorrectly.
“Large parts of the manuals were written in poor English and had incorrect words used.
“The intended meaning was, in some cases, difficult to understand.”
Additionally, the diesel heaters and instructions did not have the name and address of the importer or manufacturer, and did not include the required Declaration of Conformity (DoC), a formal declaration by a manufacturer that the product to which it applies meets all relevant requirements of all applicable product safety directives.
Consumers who believe they may have purchased an unsafe diesel heater are advised to stop using it immediately and report it to Trading Standards via Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.
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