Summary
Officers from Manchester City Council's Trading Standards team, working with Greater Manchester Police and a brand representative, visited a retailer on Derby Street, Strangeways, and removed 16,500 items deemed unsafe or counterfeit. The seizure included 4,017 counterfeit NeeDoh squishy toys and over 9,000 other squishy toys, alongside nearly 1,000 items with trademark infringements and more than 1,600 goods failing safety standards.
Testing of similar products has identified dangerous additives including polyurethane, phthalates, volatile organic compounds and preservatives that pose health risks through ingestion, inhalation or skin contact. Other items fail to meet UK safety standards and present choking hazards or allow access to small batteries, posing particular risk to young children.
Councillor Basat Sheikh said the action reinforces the council's commitment to resident safety and warned retailers that selling unsafe goods will result in enforcement action. The seized items will be destroyed by specialist disposal companies rather than sent to landfill.
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Common questions
- What is this article about?
- Manchester City Council Trading Standards has seized 16,500 counterfeit and unsafe toys worth £110,000 from a Strangeways retailer, including thousands of counterfeit 'NeeDoh' squishy toys found to contain harmful chemicals. The retailer voluntarily surrendered the goods for destruction following the joint operation with Greater Manchester Police and brand representatives.
- When was this published?
- This article was published on 2 October 2026.
- Who published this article?
- This article was published by Business Manchester.