More than 500 ride-on horse toys have been destroyed after being seized at the Port of Felixstowe and deemed unsafe.

Ipswich Star: A shipment of unsafe toy horses was seized at Port of FelixstoweA shipment of unsafe toy horses was seized at Port of Felixstowe (Image: Suffolk Trading Standards)

The shipment of 520 children's toys was imported from China and bound for a warehouse in Leicester.

Officials said the importer was based in China, but with a London address and no VAT number.

Ipswich Star: The horses failed to comply with the essential toy safety requirementsThe horses failed to comply with the essential toy safety requirements (Image: Suffolk Trading Standards)

Although no details were on the record, it is likely that the toys would have been sold on online marketplaces.

The toys were destroyed on February 15 – about a month after arriving at the port and being seized by import surveillance officers.

Ipswich Star: The unsafe toy horses were seized at Port of Felixstowe in January and destroyed a month laterThe unsafe toy horses were seized at Port of Felixstowe in January and destroyed a month later (Image: Suffolk Trading Standards)

A Suffolk Trading Standards spokesman said: "The horses failed to comply with the essential toy safety requirements, with the internal mechanism easily accessible, meaning that it could be an entrapment or finger crushing hazard.

"The toys were not labelled as required by The Toys (Safety) Regulations 2011. There were no details of the manufacturer or importer, and the toys did not display any appropriate warnings."

If you have a toy or any other product you think is unsafe, report it on 0808 223 1133.