Consumer Safety Act 1978

3 An officer of an enforcement authority may, at all reasonable hours and on production, if required, of his credentials, exercise the following powers, that is to say—

(a) he may, for the purpose of ascertaining whether any relevant provisions have been contravened, inspect any goods and enter any premises other than premises used only as a dwelling ;

(b) he may, for the purpose of ascertaining whether an offence under section 2(2) of this Act has been committed, examine any procedure (including any arrangements for carrying out a test) connected with the production of goods;

(c) if he has reasonable cause to suspect that relevant provisions have been contravened he may, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the provisions have been contravened, require any person carrying on a business or employed in connection with a business to produce any books or documents relating to the business and may take copies of, or of any entry in, any such book or document;

(d) if he has reasonable cause to believe that relevant provisions have been contravened, he may seize and detain any goods for the purpose of ascertaining, by testing or otherwise, whether the provisions have been contravened ;

(e) he may seize and detain any goods (including documents) which he has reason to believe may be required as evidence in proceedings for an offence under section 2 of this Act or under section 3 of this Act so far as it relates to prohibition orders and prohibition notices ;

(f) he may, for the purpose of exercising his powers under sub-paragraph (d) or (e) above to seize goods, but only if and to the extent that it is reasonably necessary in order to secure that relevant provisions are complied with, require any person having authority to do so to break open any container and, if that person does not comply with the requirement, he may do so himself.