CHILDREN across the country have been protected by a City of York Council court case ruling brought against a Cornish clothes company.

York magistrates heard how trading standards found internet retail companies were selling nightwear for babies and toddlers that could catch fire too easily.

By law, all children’s night clothes must be made from flame-retardant material for safety reasons.

When contacted by York senior trading officer Helen Armstrong, two south England sellers said they had bought them from Cornish wholesalers Power-Craft (Retail) Ltd which had assured them they met safety requirements.

Powell-Craft (Retail) Ltd, of St Austell, Cornwall, pleaded guilty to two charges of breaking consumer safety regulations.

Anna Barker, prosecuting, said: “It is a serious issue. It is the responsibility of the trader to ensure any products that it places on the market are safe. The purpose of the regulations is to prevent serious injury to a young child.”

She said quality certificates provided by the nightdresses’ manufacturers in India did not show that they met British safety conditions and the company did not have robust systems in place to check its products met legal requirements.

Magistrates heard the family business has been trading for 50 years and had hundreds of customers, including companies that supplied goods through the internet.

They fined Powell-Craft £3,300 and ordered it to pay £2,000 prosecution costs and a £15 victim surcharge.

For the company, Angus Withington said since the offences last autumn, the company had tightened its quality controls and its managing director Toby Powell had personally travelled to India to ensure all nightwear made for the company there met British safety requirements.

“He very much hopes that the defects which have been quite properly identified have been resolved and will not exist in the future,” he said.