“LETHAL” hair clippers seized by Blackburn with Darwen Council’s trading standards team are to feature in a national Christmas safety campaign.

A ‘grotty grotto’ of dangerous and fake goods, including the hair clippers, has been unwrapped by the Trading Standards Institute (TSI) in London to highlight the importance of being a ‘savvy shopper’ this Christmas.

The campaign by the Office of Fair Trading will remind Christmas shoppers of their rights, give tips on avoiding ending up with ‘shocking stocking fillers’.

Trading standards officers seized 26 boxes of potentially lethal electric hair clippers which were being sold for £3 in a shop in Blackburn.

The ‘Richo’ easy cut clippers had no fuse inside the plug and no plastic sheathing on the plug pins meaning anyone using them was at risk of being electrocuted.