Consumer group Which? has warned parents about the Halloween costumes for kids that have failed safety tests.
The group tested 20 costumes in total, from retailers including Sainsbury’s, eBay and Amazon, but two failed to pass the safety tests.
One was a werewolf outfit, sold by B&M, and the second was a Maleficent costume bought from eBay and made by Spanish company Fiestas Guirca.
The reason they both failed the test was because both the headpiece on the Maleficent outfit and the mask that came with the werewolf outfit burned too quickly.
Alex Neill, Which? managing director of home services, said of the results: 'We were shocked to find Halloween costumes that claimed to pass the legal British safety requirement actually failed our flammability testing.
'While these have now been recalled, we are advising parents to watch out for these costumes being stocked elsewhere.'
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Responding to the alarming safety results, B&M told Which? that the 'werewolf outfit has already been recalled and that it’s accepting returns, refunds and exchanges'.
In regards to the Maleficent costume, Ebay said: 'The listing featuring the Maleficent costume has now been removed and it has reached out to the seller to ensure that they contact all buyers regarding this issue and to offer them a full refund.'
‘The safety of our customers is our number one priority and we work closely with trading standards to keep our marketplace safe. We have removed this item and will continue to monitor any listings.’
Following their research, Alex Neill also urged manufacturers and retailers to only stock those costumes that meet the British Retail Consortium (BRC) guidelines.
He said: ‘Which? urges all manufacturers and retailers to adopt the BRC code as a standard. Any items that fail fire safety tests must be removed from sale and discontinued immediately.’
Retailers don't have to follow the code as it's voluntary, and it was set up after Claudia Winkleman's daughter suffered severe burns in 2015, when her witch outfit caught fire.
