PARENTS were today urged to beware of a toy AK47 gun which could cause youngsters serious injury.

Trading standards officers have pledged to take action over the imitation Navy Seal AK47 Assault Rifle which has been found on sale in a shop on the outskirts of Blackburn.

They believe at least 50 of them have been sold throughout the borough and are warning parents not to give them to children.

The gun is a three-quarter scale model which fires plastic pellets at six times the force permitted by toy safety regulations, and has been compared in strength to an air rifle. It folds down into a plastic carrying case. It also carries a CE mark which means the manufacturer has declared it complies with European safety regulations. However trading standards officers are planning to have it formally tested, but that cannot take place until after Christmas.

Blackburn with Darwen's chief trading standards officer, Chris Allen, said: "These guns look like toys, are being sold as toys and are CE marked, but they are not safe to be played with.."

More than 240 of the pretend guns, which were imported from China by a company in North Yorkshire and marketed for use by children aged 14 and over, are known to have been sold in the North West. The box does contain a warning not to fire the weapon at point-blank range, or to point it at people or animals.

Mr Allen added: "We strongly recommend that anyone who has purchased the toy and parents or guardians of children who may be given the toy for Christmas, ensure that no one is allowed to play with it."

He said his department would be co-ordinating any prosecution of the importer with other trading standards departments around the country.

Dave Roderick of Lancashire County Council said his department had not received any complaints about them being sold around the county.