Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Hoverboards confiscated from Moray shops amid fears of explosions

Moray Council's trading standards team swooped on shops in Elgin, Forres and Buckie which were found to be selling the potentially dangerous gadgets.
Moray Council's trading standards team swooped on shops in Elgin, Forres and Buckie which were found to be selling the potentially dangerous gadgets.

Popular “hoverboard” toys have been confiscated from stores across Moray by council trading standards officers who fear they could explode and cause fires.

The futuristic toy is flying off shelves across the nation as one of this year’s most sought-after Christmas gifts.

The self-balancing scooters allow youngsters to glide along the ground on wheels, aping the effect of the “hoverboards” made famous in the Back to the Future movies.

But fire chiefs in England have already blamed faulty models for blazes that have caused thousands of pounds worth of damage.

And yesterday Moray Council’s trading standards team swooped on shops in Elgin, Forres and Buckie which were found to be selling the potentially dangerous gadgets.

The move came as part of a UK-wide operation in which more than 15,000 of the imported toys were impounded at ports and airports amid fears that they are unsafe.

Many self-balancing scooters have been found to have plugs without fuses and defective cut-off switches that risk the device overheating or catching fire.

Elgin fire station’s Ben Law said: “The service is aware of the concern around devices being marketed as hoverboards or balance boards, and our advice would be to never leave a charging battery unattended.”

In recent months faults associated with the must-have items have been linked to fires in London and Kent.

One mum in England said it sounded “like a bomb going off” when her son’s self-balancing scooter exploded and caused her to suffer burns.

Leon Livermore, chief executive of the UK Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said cheap versions of the popular toy had been created to capitalise on their demand.

Mr Livermore said: “Criminals and irresponsible manufacturers will often exploit high demand and attempt to flood the market with cheap and dangerous products.

“Consumers should not let a new fashion or craze cloud their judgement and remain vigilant at all times, to avoid taking home an unsafe product.

“Some products that are made abroad, principally for the overseas market, are not fitted with the correct plug and fuse for use in the UK.”

High-end versions of the gadget are a hit with celebrities, with Justin Bieber, Brooklyn Beckham, John Terry and Usain Bolt all spotted enjoying the gadgets.