"Highly dangerous" travel adaptors have been found for sale to UK consumers on major online marketplaces, a charity has warned.
All 14 devices bought by Electrical Safety First from Ali Express, eBay, Amazon Marketplace and TikTok Shop failed basic safety tests, with the worst offenders posing a risk of serious electric shock or even electrocution.
The charity warned that information available on the listings suggested more than 10,000 of the unsafe adaptors may have already been sold to UK shoppers.
"Shopping for your holiday getaway should be an enjoyable experience, not one that puts you at serious risk," Giuseppe Capanna, product safety engineer at Electrical Safety First, said.
"What looks like a bargain could come at a much higher cost. We urge Brits heading abroad this summer to think before they buy and only purchase travel adaptors from reputable retailers they know and trust, so they can travel with confidence and avoid taking a potentially dangerous device away with them."
A spokeswoman for AliExpress confirmed that it had removed three adaptors flagged by ESF and was now "contacting affected customers to initiate a recall through our established channels".
"We have also launched a wider review of universal travel adapter listings, where all plug pins are shown extended at the same time," the spokesperson added.
"Any listing with this unsafe characteristic will be restricted from sale until the seller takes corrective action."
A spokeswoman for eBay said its site had taken similar action: "We have removed the listings identified by Electrical Safety First and we’re carrying out wider checks to find and remove any similar listings."
Amazon and TikTok also removed listings from sale.
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