The advice as the result of a survey into the safety of these goods.
Trading standards became concerned following last summer's floods that electrical goods damaged by water were starting to appear on the secondhand market.

Information from the market place also indicated that there was an increased demand for secondhand electrical goods from people who were hit by the floods but were not insured against the damage they caused.
As a result, trading standards bought a portable appliance testing device, allowing officers to test the safety of electrical goods on sale. Inspections were then carried out at secondhand outlets across the East Riding.

A third of all the items tested failed to meet electrical safety requirements. The majority of these failures were as a result of faults with either the plug on the appliance or the electrical supply lead to it.

In most cases trading standards were able to work with the proprietors of the businesses concerned to ensure that either the goods were removed from sale and disposed of or the fault rectified.

Colin Briggs, trading standards services manager, said: "These results are deeply concerning to us. We will be repeating this work in the coming year. Any businesses found to still be ignoring our advice on electrical safety of secondhand goods could be prosecuted."

Trading standards are advising consumers to carry out visual checks before buying secondhand electrical appliances to ensure that there are no loose wires or accessible lives components. Appliances should also be fitted with a three pin plug which has plastic coating on the top half of the live and neutral pins.

Consumers should, if possible only purchase secondhand electrical goods if they have been tested for safety. These goods are often identified by a small 'PAT' sticker.

Anyone with concerns about the sale of secondhand electrical goods should contact Consumer Direct on 08454 040506.