A counterfeit pack of plastic toys based on Disney’s Cars film have been withdrawn from the market by their distributor after it has been found that the toys contain high levels of lead and chromium. The toys failed to comply with the Toys Directive and the relevant European standard EN71.

Cars was a huge box office smash and has spurred a raft of licensed merchandise based on the film. The pack of six toys containing the dangerous chemicals were fakes, however, created in China by an unknown brand.

The recalled cars were sold in the UK in a blister pack containing red, orange, blue and black cars and trucks. The windscreens on the cars have been decorated to look like eyes, similar to genuine toys from the Cars film.

Disney Consumer products created genuine toys based on the film and said that the Cars line still continues to be popular. It has created new Cars toys for Christmas including a Cars garage.