Almost 440,000 potentially dangerous or non-compliant items have been intercepted and seized by Leicestershire Trading Standards at East Midlands Airport in the last year.

Leicestershire County Council says the seizures are worth more than £15.3m and include electrical goods which could overheat and cause fires, toys which failed to meet UK safety standards, jewellery with high levels of hazardous metals and cosmetics containing toxic ingredients.

All of these unsafe items have now been stopped from making it into shops and online marketplaces.

They are all sent to a specialist disposal firm for recycling.

The Trading Standards team works in partnership with Border Force on the nationally-funded project at East Midlands Airport.

The partnership is intelligence-led, which means that Trading Standards and Border Force can target resources in the areas of highest risk, with potentially unlawful and non-compliant consignments being identified, targeted and then intercepted.

Most of the seized items are destined for sale at large online marketplaces, where they are sold on behalf of the importer.

East Midlands Airport is the UK's second busiest cargo airport, handling more than 320,000 tonnes of flown cargo each year. The role of Trading Standards and Border Force is to examine imported items and take enforcement action, to ensure that consumers are not exposed to unsafe and dangerous products.

Councillor Deborah Taylor, cabinet member for regulatory services, said: "Our Trading Standards team, in partnership with Border Force, carries out vital work which protects consumers in Leicestershire and the wider UK as it ensures that unsafe goods do not make their way into the supply chain.

"All these products which have been seized either present a danger to the public, or are substandard, so it is crucial that they are intercepted and either made safe or sent for recycling."

A video showing a Leicestershire Trading Standards officer examining a consignment of unsafe goods can be seen at www.youtube.com/watch?v=YXYQeFizvow