{"id":711046,"date":"2026-07-25T20:57:22","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:57:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/711046\/"},"modified":"2026-07-25T20:57:22","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T20:57:22","slug":"parents-warned-after-hundreds-of-squishy-toys-seized-in-reading","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/711046\/","title":{"rendered":"Parents warned after hundreds of squishy toys seized in Reading"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Parents and carers have been warned about the dangers of some squishy toys after hundreds were seized by trading standards because of safety concerns. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Reading Borough Council said its trading standards officers impounded more than 320 sensory toys in the past week.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It said officers were concerned with a strong chemical smell coming from some of the toys and found that several items lacked the legally required safety information.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The local authority said while the toys may appear harmless, products that do not meet UK safety standards might pose a risk to children.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Consumers are being advised to stop using any squishy toy that leaks, splits or becomes damaged, and never to heat, microwave or tamper with them.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The council said enforcement visits are continuing across the borough, with retailers reminded of their legal duty to ensure toys comply with UK safety laws.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Non-compliant products may be seized and businesses could face further action.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Councillor Finn McGoldrick, lead member for environmental services and community safety, said: &#8220;Parents and carers should be able to trust that the toys they buy for their children are safe.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;These product seizures demonstrate our ongoing commitment to protecting consumers and removing potentially dangerous products from the marketplace.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">&#8220;During the summer holidays, I would ask people to remain vigilant and make sure any toys purchased are from reputable retailers, that you check for the appropriate safety markings, and report any concerns about unsafe products to our Trading Standards team.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Parents and carers have been warned about the dangers of some squishy toys after hundreds were seized by&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":711047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-711046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=711046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/711046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/711047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=711046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=711046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=711046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}