Photo courtesy Surrey County Council. The elf toy which failed safety tests.

A Christmas elf toy, imported through Heathrow, has failed safety tests after being intercepted by Buckinghamshire and Surrey Trading Standards.  

Ninety-six elf toys had been imported from India and sent to a holding point in Surrey. The decorations on their hats and tunics were found to pose a choking risk to children; they tore off easily and fitted exactly inside a choke test cylinder the size of a child’s throat.  After receiving the test results, trading standards officers arranged for them to be removed from sale by the internet retailer they were destined for.

The toys had no link to official Elf on the Shelf products.