More than half of the child car seats tested by safety experts failed the inspection.
Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Trading Standards Service carried out a series of free checks recently in Blackwood and Ystrad Mynach.
Over the course of the two days a total of 99 child car seats were examined, and of those tested, 52% overall failed the test with at least one fault.
Of the problems identified, 46% were minor and were fixed by simple adjustments. Other faults included the seat being unsuitable for the child or incompatible for the vehicle and incorrectly adjusted harnesses – all accounting for 3% of the failures.
The remaining 3% were classed as major and included incorrect routing of the adult belt with the result that the child would be offered little or no protection in the event of an accident.
The experts also offered help and advice to people who had already bought a seat but couldn’t fit it and those wanting to buy one.
Trading Standards officers noted that some parents and guardians are moving their child up to a booster cushion from a booster seat too early.
Cllr Dave Poole, cabinet member for community and leisure services said: “The primary aim of these events was to raise public awareness about the lack of protection provided by an unsuitable or badly fitted car seat. With just a little extra knowledge parents can ensure their children are safe during car journeys and hopefully these checks will help prevent injuries resulting from accidents in the future.”