Why was a courtyard heater destroyed at the UK border before it reached shops?

The heater that never made it to a shelf

The product is a metal courtyard heater sold under the model name Heater-05. It comes with a black power supply cord and a plug. The manufacturer is listed as Jianxing Chenrui Electrical Technology co., Ltd., though the word "Technology" is misspelled as "Techonlogy" on the supplied labelling and documentation. The country of origin is China.

Local Authority Trading Standards notified the Office for Product Safety and Standards. The report carries notification number 2601-0298 and was published on 19 August 2026.

Wires soldered straight to the board with no strain relief

The hazard is straightforward. Internal electrical connections are inadequately secured. Wires are soldered directly to the printed circuit board without effective strain relief. During normal use those connections can loosen. When they loosen, arcing occurs. Overheating follows. That heat can ignite surrounding materials and start a fire.

The regulations cited are the Electrical Equipment (Safety) Regulations 2016 and the Plugs & Sockets etc (Safety) Regulations 1994. The heater meets neither.

The plug carries an approval number that cannot be verified

The plug was marked with an approval number. Authorities could not verify that number. This raises concerns regarding compliance with BS 1363, the British standard for 13 A plugs. A plug that cannot be traced to a valid approval may not have been tested for the mechanical and electrical stresses it will face in a UK socket.

The shipment was rejected and destroyed

The corrective action recorded is destruction of the product. The import was rejected at the border. No units entered the UK market through this shipment. The notice does not state whether any heaters of this model reached consumers through other routes.