Seventy per cent of car child seats tested in the Isle of Man were the wrong type or size for the child or were fitted incorrectly, a police survey has discovered.

The alarming findings were made at a recent openday.

Now the police’s road safety team is to provide official guidance and advice to parents, guardians and anyone required to buy or fit a child seat.

Several hundred responses to a recent survey revealed that a concerning number of parents were unsure of the correct type or size of car seat their child should be using based on age and height.

It also indicated that many weren’t confident that they had fitted their child’s seat correctly.

The polcie brought over an expert from the UK and invited families to come along and have their car seats tested.

UK-based car seat experts Child Seat Safety will run a certified training course and assessment for the team in September.

Providing training and advice in the fitting of child restraints, it is the only nationally approved course which has been licensed by the Institution of Occupational Safety and Health.

Following the course, the road safety team will organise a number of activities as part of a child seat safety campaign to pass on their knowledge to the local community.

The police’s road safety team is responsible for education, training and publicity of road safety and comprises eight full time members of staff, headed up by Samantha Heard, who has a background in local government and road safety in the UK.

She said: ’The feedback we’ve received from local parents and families has been phenomenal and just goes to show how important education and awareness surrounding the correct and safe fitting of a car seat is.

’If, God forbid, a crash were to happen while your child was in the car - how they were strapped in could be the difference between life and death.

That is the reason this campaign is so vitally important.

’We want to provide helpful tips and advice, so parents and carers can take away useful and practical advice. This has been proven to work well in the UK and we hope this will also be the case for the Isle of Man.’

The guidance is being funded by Rossborough Insurance (IoM).

Its managing director, Ann Collins, said: ’There is clearly uncertainty surrounding the correct use of a child seat, so to have an Isle of Man-based team of experts who can correctly advise local families will be invaluable.’