Government Business Minister Anna Soubry called Sunday for action to stop dangerous and illegal laser pens being sold as toys to children.

She has written to trading standards departments across the country urging a nationwide crackdown, backed by police action.

Her call comes just weeks after the body that represents airline pilots in Britain demanded that handheld laser pointers be classed as offensive weapons. That call came after a Virgin Atlantic flight to the US was forced to return to Heathrow when its co-pilot was dazzled by a laser during takeoff. The plane was carrying 252 passengers and crew and is thought to have been the first commercial aircraft to have to return because of a laser beam shone at the cockpit from the ground.

The British Airline Pilots Association (Balpa) said aircraft were being "attacked" by laser devices "at an alarming rate and with lasers with ever-increasing strength". It said the problem was becoming "more and more urgent".

In her letter to trading standards officers for toy safety, Soubry has proposed a warning notice be circulated highlighting the dangers. She also wants trading officers to work with the police to bring more criminal prosecutions against those who intentionally place unsafe products on the market.

British law states that laser pens with a strength of more than 1 megawatt are illegal to sell to the general public because of the damage they can cause if shone in a person's eye.

Soubry in her letter calls for urgent action, saying: "You will be aware of recent media reports of young children and teenagers that have suffered permanent eye damage from having laser pens shone directly at their eyes, whether intentionally or not. I have been made aware of at least 159 such incidents since 2013 and I understand the number is increasing."

Experts are concerned at the ease with which the much more powerful devices can be obtained online, usually from the Far East, and at the frequency of attacks on aircraft in flight.

There were 1,440 laser incidents involving aircraft flying into and out of British airports in 2014, according to the UK Civil Aviation Authority. A survey of more than 800 pilots last year found that more than half had been targeted by lasers in the previous 12 months. Endit

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