Fury as ‘killer car seats’ sold online

VULNERABLE A child’s car seat ONLINE marketplaces, including Amazon and eBay, have been blasted for offering “killer” kids’ car seats for as little as £8.

A Which? probe found the seats, for newborns to five-yearolds, have started to reappear for sale five years after being branded unsafe.

In trading standards trials in 2014, a crash test dummy of a three-year-old was hurled through a car windscreen when the straps on the seat failed.

Made of thin material, Which? also said the seats “clearly lacked the support needed to protect babies and toddlers”.

Which? is urging parents to buy EU-approved child car seats.

And the watchdog blasted Amazon, eBay and AliExpress for not spotting the seats and banning them from sale “to prevent anyone being duped by a dangerous product that puts their child at risk”.

Alex Neill, of Which?, said: “Parents will be horrified at the thought they could unwittingly be putting their child’s life at risk.

“Online marketplaces cannot continue to turn a blind eye to dangerous and illegal products being sold on their sites.”

Amazon, eBay and AliExpress all said the seats were banned on their sites. Amazon said: “All sellers must follow our selling guidelines.” And eBay said it had told sellers to refund customers who had bought the seats.

AliExpress said: “We have policies and procedures in place to help us identify listings which infringe the policies of our online marketplace by third party sellers.”