Trading Standards News

These pages are intended to bring you the latest News from Trading Standards in Tameside

• Alcohol Survey of Young People - June 2007 535.28 KB
• Fire Risk Assessment Company
• Buy With Confidence - Approved Trader Scheme
• Schools Easter Egg Competition
• Mini Motor Bikes

Fire Risk Assessment Company

GMC Fire & Rescue Service has recently become aware of an incident where a local business was pressurised by a risk assessment company into having a fire risk assessment undertaken. The business was wrongly informed that they could be liable to a £150.00 on the spot fine and as the business was a public house they could be reported to the Licensing department and have their license removed. The Fire Service would like to remind businesses that it is a legal requirement, under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, to undertake a fire risk assessment and that local fire safety officers do carry out periodic audits on premises, which may result in advice or instruction (by way of a legal notice) being given to rectify any faults. Further advice on how to carry out a fire risk assessment can be found at fire safety guides Trading Standards have taken up the matter regarding the fire risk assessment company.

Buy With Confidence - Approved Trader Scheme

In an attempt to stop the public falling victim to bogus traders and to support legitimate businesses Tameside Trading Standards Service will be introducing an Approved Trader Scheme which has the full support of the council.

Buy With Confidence will be a Trading Standards Approved Scheme to promote and support the good, reliable tradesmen and retailers of Tameside whilst in turn increasing consumer protection by providing an approved trader list. It will help businesses comply with the law while improving consumer protection through a partnership approach and will be open to any business within the area.

Members will have been independently checked by staff from Trading Standards for compliance with the letter and spirit of the law. Only when the business has passed stringent checks will they be able to display the Buy With Confidence logo. Traders will benefit from positive publicity and potential extra business of being an approved trader.

Trading Standards will put consumers in touch with approved traders who have agreed to provide a trustworthy, high standard of customer service. The scheme will help to give customers peace of mind, particularly older and vulnerable consumers who need to know who they can trust.

The scheme will be a positive example of how the Council works to both support business and protect consumers.

If you would like to recommend a business or are a local business and want to find out more about joining the scheme then please contact Gwen Kay on 0161 342 3671.

Schools Easter Egg Competition

Pupils at a Dukinfield junior school certainly had an eye for figures when they took part in a borough-wide Easter egg competition.

The youngsters at St John's Primary School have been crowned this year's winners of the annual Trading Standards event, which Civic Mayor Michael Smith helped to judge.

For the competition junior schools across Tameside were provided with three Easter eggs of varying prices, this year it was Quality Street (£5.00), Maltesers (£2.50) and Smarties (£1.49).

The schools were asked to organise a classroom project to compare the eggs in terms of weight, packaging, price, contents and best of all taste and decide which is the best value for money.

They were then asked to put their findings onto a wall-mounted display using everything from graphs, drawings, photos, collages and pie charts to computer graphics.

The Deputy Civic Mayor Stephen Smith presented the children with their trophy along with their prizes; a £75 Argos gift voucher for the school and a Cadburys cream egg for each pupil. The pupils were then taken on a tour of the Mayors Parlour and the Council Chamber.

This is an annual event held by the Trading Standards Service to encourage children to examine the labels of foodstuffs and compare the many different brands that are available and decide on the best value for money. The winner of the Tameside competition went forward to take part in an event for all the authorities in the Greater Manchester area.

Mini Motor Bikes

Trading Standards Chiefs are warning parents not to purchase mini motor cycles which are dangerous and illegal to use on the roads.

Tameside Trading Standards have received an increasing number of complaints following the popularity of mini motor bikes.

The message is clear these vehicles cannot be used in public areas and anyone ignoring this advice is likely to find themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Trading Standards are also concerned following examination of these petrol operated models that they do not comply with the relevant safety standards and users face the risk of serious personal injury because of inherently poor design.

The photographs below show some of the seized motor bikes being crushed at a recent publicity shoot.

Anyone seeing these bikes being sold or require any further information then contact Trading Standards on 0161 342 3941 or anyone seeing them being used on a road contact Crime stoppers on 0800 555 111.

For further information you can contact us:

Contact Information
Send us a Message	Trading Standards Tameside MBC Council Offices Wellington Road Ashton under Lyne Lancs OL6 6DL View local map
0161 342 8355
0161 342 2288