Children's Halloween costumes that fail fire safety tests revealed by Which?

The tests were performed on 20 outfits from retailers including Amazon, eBay and B&M

A number of children’s Halloween costumes sold on the high street fail fire safety tests, the Consumers' Association has warned.

Which? tested 20 children’s Halloween fancy dress outfits stocked by online and high street shops and supermarkets including Sainsbury’s, eBay and Amazon.

Two of the costumes tested failed to meet the requirements of the British safety standard.

These included a Maleficent costume, which was purchased from eBay and made by Spanish company Fiestas Guirca, and a werewolf costume from B&M.

The headpiece on the Maleficent outfit and the moulded mask that came with the werewolf costume both burned too quickly to pass.

“We were shocked to find Halloween costumes that claimed to pass the legal British safety requirement actually failed our flammability testing,” said Alex Neill from Which?.

“While these have now been recalled, we are advising parents to watch out for these costumes being stocked elsewhere.”

In addition, Which? also tested the fancy dress costumes to a stricter flammability level than what is required by British law.

A Maleficent costume, which was purchased from eBay and made by Spanish company Fiestas Guirca, and a werewolf costume from B&M failed to meet the requirements of the British safety standard (Which?)

A voluntary code of practice produced and designed by retailers and manufacturers in collaboration with the British Retail Consortium (BRC), the test was set up after TV presenter Claudia Winkleman’s daughter experienced serious burns in 2014 when her Halloween costume caught fire.

The additional testing ensures that the maximum permitted rate of spread of flame is 10mm per second, as opposed to the 30mm per second required by the British standard.

Which? found that 15 costumes passed the additional tests as well as the British standard.

However, three costumes which met the required safety standard, therefore are legal to sell, didn’t meet the requirements of the voluntary code of practice.

These were a Skull Witch outfit from B&M, a Ghostbusters outfit by Rubie’s bought from Amazon, and an unbranded Witch outfit purchased from eBay.

In response to the findings, B&M revealed that it has recalled the werewolf costume and that it is accepting returns, refunds and exchanges.

This ghost outfit bought from Wilko met the requirements of the British safety standard and the BRC guidelines (Which?)

Similarly, eBay confirmed that the listing for the Maleficent costume has since been removed and that it has reached out to the seller to ensure they inform all buyers regarding the issue and offer them a refund.

The auction site also said it will be keeping an eye out for any listings which are believed to be the same item.

As a result of the findings, Which? is now calling for manufacturers and retailers to only stock costumes that meet the BRC guidelines.

“Which? urges all manufacturers and retailers to adopt the BRC code as a standard,” Neill said.

“Any items that fail fire safety tests must be removed from sale and discontinued immediately.”

According to Which? the following retailers and manufacturers contributed to the BRC code of practice; Aldi, Asda, Boots, Home Retail Group, John Lewis, Morrisons, Next, Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Co-Op, Disney Store, Waitrose and Wilko.

It advises parents to check for labelling on the costume itself and the packaging, which indicates that it meets the stricter standards of the BRC guidelines.

In the event of a Halloween fire emergency, Which? has issued the following advice:

STOP don’t run, you’ll make the flames worse.

DROP down on the ground at once.

ROLL in heavy fabric or a fire blanket to smother the flames, though just on the ground will help.

COOL the burn with running cold tap water for 20 minutes and remove all clothing and jewellery from the area (unless it is melted or firmly stuck to the wound)

CALL for help.

COVER the burn with cling film or a sterile, non-fluffy dressing or cloth.