THOUSANDS of tooth-whitening products were seized and will be destroyed by Hillingdon Council's Trading Standards team.

Officers secured a court order for the forfeiture and destruction of more than 12,000 items at Uxbridge Magistrates' Court. They were seized from a home in Sipson.

Trading Standards were called to the house in May last year by a resident who had allowed an acquaintance, Piotr Kaszubski, to store tooth-whitening products in his home with a view to going into business with him.

The tooth whitening products contained 5.9% hydrogen peroxide - as such these products can only be supplied to dental practitioners.

The limit of hydrogen peroxide in such products supplied to consumers should be 0.1%.

Trading Standards officers uncovered evidence that the goods, which can only be supplied to dentists, were being supplied online to consumers with inadequate checks being made.

Kaszubski has returned to Poland and said he was merely an agent for an American company, so it was decided to seize the products, worth in excess of £500k.

Teeth whitening, using products with higher levels of hydrogen peroxide, should only be carried out under the supervision of a dentist.