MATTEL’S recall of more than 18m. toys has hit Guernsey. But local stores are still confident in the quality of products, which bore the mark, Made in China.

Both Aladdin’s Cave and Creasey’s Toys have had to withdraw products from the shelves.

The toys have all been recalled because of health and safety fears. But as yet the Consumer Products Safety Commission said it had no reports of any injuries from the withdrawn products.

Aladdin’s Cave has had to withdraw four – Barbie and Tanner figures, a Polly Pocket Quick Click Driver Limo, Go Diego Go Animal Adventure playpacks and Dora the Explorer plastic figures.

Managing director Jason Mahy said although the store had to remove some items, it was a very small amount when compared to the number of products on the lists distributed by Mattel.

‘There’s been two recalls. One was a couple of weeks ago and related to 19 Fisher-Price items and the other was on Tuesday and there were 43 products on that list.

‘Both times we only found two of the products we stock on the lists.’

In total, Mattel has recalled more than 18m. toys worldwide.

Many products have been found to contain excessive levels of lead paint, while others have raised concerns over small powerful magnets contained in the toys that can become loose.

The CPSC said it was concerned that if more than one magnet were swallowed, they could attract each other and cause intestinal perforation or blockage, which could be fatal.

The most high-profile toy to be recalled is the die-cast Cars character Sarge, which is being recalled following Mattel’s ongoing investigation into paint used by a Chinese firm on Fisher-Price products. The firm is recalling 436,000 of the toy cars globally, of which 253,000 are in the US and 49,000 in the UK and Ireland.

Tony Creasey, managing director of Creasey’s, said its toy department was still establishing just how many of its products had been affected, but it still had confidence in the Chinese market.

‘China is the factory of the world and huge amounts of goods come from there,’ he said.

‘Usually the quality is very good and I think this is just a blip on control issues.

‘It’s embarrassing for Mattel but I don’t think it reflects on the rest of the products coming out of China.

‘The ones we have already sold we will give refunds to customers for if they bring the products back.’

Mr Mahy said Aladdin’s Cave was happy to help any customers who had purchased toys from it, but Mattel had also set up a number of contacts for anyone with concerns.

‘This hasn’t affected our confidence in Mattel in a detrimental way because it shows they are taking action after discovering a problem.

‘I think it shows them to be a responsible company because the problem was found in one of their sub-contractors and they acted accordingly.’

But Guernsey’s chief trading standards officer Bryan Guilbert said it was important not to think the recalls related to new products only.

‘From the lists released by Mattel it appears there is a considerable number of items that go back a number of years. We’re not only talking about recently produced items.’

He said if anyone had any doubts, then they should visit the Mattel website or call the helpline.

‘If people have any problems finding the list on the website, then they are free to give us a call at Trading Standards.’

* Customers with concerns over any Mattel product can call its helpline on 01628 500303, email it at helplineuk@mattel.com or go to www.mattel.com. Alternatively, people can call Guernsey Trading Standards on 234567 for further help.