Trading Standards finds 10 of 11 Halloween costumes fail fire safety rules
Trading Standards found 10 of 11 sampled Halloween costumes bought online failed UK fire safety regulations, with many dangerously flammable and labels missing vital information.
How it was covered
- ITV was the only channel found covering it.
- Channel 5, BBC News, BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, GB News and Sky News: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
Trading Standards officers have warned that most Halloween costumes they sampled online failed UK fire safety regulations, ahead of this year's celebrations.
Officers bought a random sample of 11 outfits. Ten failed to meet the rules. The failures included labels that were missing, lacked vital information, or did not identify the importer or manufacturer. Many of the costumes were also dangerously flammable.
The fire service carried out tests on the outfits. In one case, a grey face mask that came with a costume melted in a way that would make it almost impossible to remove from a child's face without serious scarring or injury. In another test, flames were initially hidden by a multi-layered dress before becoming visible.
One safety campaigner, who was badly burned at the age of 13, urged parents to be cautious. They said their Halloween costume came into contact with a tea light when they walked past a table and it went up very quickly. Fire officers said the tests were worrying. They advised parents to avoid naked flames during Halloween celebrations and to buy costumes from a reputable seller rather than cheaper outfits from online marketplaces.
The costumes are often classified as toys rather than clothing, meaning they lack the safety standards applied to clothes. Experts advised parents to look for labels showing the costume has undergone additional flame tests. Officials said the failures could cause serious injury, and the warning is aimed at reducing the risk from costumes that are meant to be fun.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| Fire officers said cheaper Halloween costumes from online marketplaces do not meet British safety standards. | Reported by ITV |
| Halloween costumes are often classified as toys, so they do not face the same safety standards as clothing. | |
| Trading Standards found that 10 Halloween outfits in a sample failed UK safety regulations, with missing or incomplete labels and many dangerously flammable. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
The lunchtime bulletin led with a warning about alarming problems with children's costumes and framed the tests as a possible real-life horror. It kept the focus on the random online purchases, the fire test images and the account of a campaigner burned as a child. The package ended with practical advice on labels and flame tests.
- “Trading standards officers bought a random selection online and then the fire service tested them.”
- “When trading standards officers bought a random sample of 11 Halloween outfits, they found that 10 failed to meet UK safety regulations.”
- “These costumes are often classified as toys without the safety standards of clothing.”
The evening bulletin repeated the same consumer investigation but framed it as a real Halloween scare ahead of trick-or-treating. It added a fire officer's warning that the tests were worrying, that parents should avoid naked flames and that cheaper costumes from online marketplaces do not meet British standards. It also ended with the same advice to look for additional flame test labels.
- “Among the clothing they tested only one met UK safety standards and some were highly flammable.”
- “Fire officers say the new tests are worrying and that parents should avoid using naked flames for Halloween celebrations.”
- “If you're going to buy a Halloween costume buy them so that they're safe from a reputable seller.”
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.