Revealed: the children's halloween costumes that catch fire in seconds

It comes just a year after Strictly Come Dancing presenter Claudia Winkleman's eight-year-old daughter Matilda was left badly burned when her fancy dress outfit was set alight by a

candle. The star has since welcomed a crackdown on safety laws around the costumes, which are classed as toys and therefore do no have to reach the same flammability standards as clothing.

But despite ministers ordering for children's fancy dress costumes to be tested in a nationwide safety crackdown, the outfits on sale still ignite easily. In a video, produced by

vloggers on YouTube community Channel Mum, costumes from seven of the UK's most-popular stores were found to catch fire in just seconds or less. Alarmingly, within just 45 seconds over

half of the costumes had burned a third of the way up or higher. Perhaps most concerning was a 'devil costume' sold by supermarket giant Tesco, which caught fire immediately. The

fire is seen to be melting away in flames within a minute. Miss Winkleman's daughter was wearing a witch costume - including a hat, cape, stripy tights and a flowing skirt - when it

brushed against a candle. She had several operations to treat her burns and her surgeon also called for tougher fire safety laws on fancy dress outfits. However despite the Government

ordering Trading Standards to carry out spot checks on costumes, fancy dress costumes only have to be tested to lower flammability standards than pyjamas or nightwear. Business Secretary

Sajid Javid said: "My immediate concern as a father and a minister is that children wearing these fancy dress costumes are safe. "It is unacceptable for any costumes to be sold

that do not comply with safety standards. "That's why I've granted funding to Trading Standards to carry out spot checks as part of a nationwide investigation. "Parents

should feel confident that any fancy dress they buy meets required standards." While most stores have agreed for they children's fancy dress outfits to meet the equivalent of the

higher fire safety standards required for children's nightwear, there is currently no legal requirement for them to do so. Tesco's F&F devil costume, priced at £8, caught fire

immediately and 45 seconds later the dress was up in flames. A Tesco spokesman said: "There’s nothing more important to us than the safety of the products we sell and we will always act

when we hear customers are concerned. "We’ve re-tested all of our fancy dress costumes including the F&F devil costume and can confirm they all meet both the legally required toy

flammability standard and the tougher children’s nightwear test. "We won’t be selling costumes that do not meet this stricter regulation. "This year we’re encouraging our customers

to purchase LED alternatives to light their pumpkins and we’ll be providing information for how to have a safe Halloween on our website.” Asda's glitter witch outfit, priced from £7,

caught alight in four seconds and within 45 seconds had burned a hole in the bottom of the dress. An Asda spokesperson said: “The well-being of our customers is our number one priority and

when it comes to children’s products we take safety extremely seriously. "From Halloween 2015 all our children’s dress-up costumes are tested to the same stringent standards as

nightwear and we have also included new swing-tickets to advise parents and guardians on how to enjoy these products safely.” Matalan's gothic bride fancy dress costume, priced at £12,

caught fire within six seconds and a large hole burnt into fabric halfway up the dress after 45 seconds. Wilko's purple witch outfit, priced £8, caught alight in just three seconds and

within 45 seconds the dress was visibly smoking. Marks & Spencer's witch Halloween outfit, priced from £14 to £18, set alight in just three seconds, with gaping holes in the fabric

visible after 45 seconds and the dress is smoking heavily. An M&S spokesman said: “We are confident that all our childrenswear meets all the relevant safety regulations and the very high

safety standards we set ourselves. "Every dress up item is subjected to independent flammability tests under strict laboratory conditions to make sure this is the case.”

Sainsbury's zombie witch outfit, from £11, set alight within five seconds and 45 seconds later large flames were seen engulfing the bottom of the dress. A Sainsbury's spokesman

said: "We have looked at every detail of our children’s dress-up range to improve safety. All of our children’s dress-up outfits meet both European toy and British nightwear

flammability safety standards. "We want to help make sure everyone stays safe this Halloween and to be aware that all clothes are flammable. We are therefore encouraging our customers

to buy LED tea lights for their pumpkins, rather than using normal candles." And Party Delight's graveyard bride outfit at £20.99 caught alight within five seconds and 45 seconds

later, flames were visible creeping up the bottom of the dress. Worryingly a One Poll survey of 2,000 mothers found a quarter wrongly believes that regulations have been tightened to make

costumes safer, while a further 55 per cent are unsure if they have changed. Now parents are calling for tough new safety laws on Halloween costumes and children's fancy dress outfits.

Channel Mum founder Siobhan Freegard said: “We need stringent safety regulations and far clearer labelling so parents know if there could be a potential problem with an outfit. "Let’s

hope no more children are injured this Halloween before tougher action is taken.”