Parents have been issued an urgent warning after traces of asbestos were found in toys sold in a UK gift shop. Cotswold Wildlife Park, near Burford in Oxfordshire, issued recalls for two of the toys sold in its onsite shop this weekend, urging buyers to get rid of the items immediately. The products in question were a 2.2kg squishy hot colour large gorilla and a 6-inch stretchy monster with an assorted try me blister card.

A spokesperson for the wildlife park, which lets visitors get close to giraffes, rhinos and lemurs, wrote on X: “We have been made aware that the following items sold at the park’s gift ship are being recalled by the supplier due to a safety issue. If you have purchased one of these items, please remove it from use immediately and contact the gift shop.”

They added: “We will reimburse anyone who has bought one of the items with the affected batch numbers.

“We sincerely apologise for this matter and thank you for your understanding.”

An official recall notice said the issue identified with the products in batch TY2863 was that they “may contain trace amounts of asbestos”.

Customers in possession of the potentially contaminated toys were urged to put them in a heavy-duty plastic bag and double-tape, before returning it to the store for a full refund.

If the toys have been damaged and the sand inside them is accessible, buyers were urged to gather the sand using wet cloths to avoid generating dust while wearing gloves and a mask.

They were then instructed to double-bag the sand and toy in a heavy-duty plastic bag and double-tape it securely, alongside the gloves, masks and cloths and keep children and others away from areas where the sand has been exposed until fully clean.

Asbestos is a dangerous carcinogen which can cause severe, incurable diseases including cancer of the lung and severe lung scarring when inhaled. Its risk is cumulative, meaning it worsens with longer or increased exposure, but there is no known safe level.