DANGEROUS toys were seized from two street traders in Bournemouth Square.

The man and woman were marketing the animal toys to passers-by for around £5 to £10.

The Chinese pair, in their 20s, spoke little English and gave addresses in London.

A passing trading standards officer saw them near NatWest Bank.

The toys were studied and found to have parts that easily break off and could choke a toddler.

The battery covers were also not screwed down, which meant children could swallow the batteries, and there was no "CE" mark to show where they came from.

The man and woman have been invited back for questioning and the toys will undergo further study. A similar batch of toys were recently seized in Poole.

"We don't know how many of them, if any, have been sold," said Andrew Sheriff, Bournemouth council's principal trading standards officer.

"Over the last three years there gave been an increasing amount of itinerant people selling goods like CDs, toys and DVDs - the kind of thing people might not ask many questions about.

"It appears an increasing number of the toys come from the Far East but it is hard to quantify. Goods like CDs can be downloaded here in CD factories.

"If the public can provide us with more information about these kind of sales, that will help us work more effectively."