PARENTS are being warned to take care with face paints they may use to make their children look ghoulish and scary on Halloween tonight.

Trading standards officers at the county council found 22 face paint products did not carry adequate safety warnings - even though all were chemically safe.

Officers found products that did not carry information about how to avoid allergic reaction or infection, and many did not have a best before' date or adequate warnings about how long the product should be kept once opened.

Nigel Strick, head of trading standards, said: "Our advice is that parents should not use old face paints on their children if the best-before date on the product is missing or expired."

Mr Strick said face paints were often used on several children and then put away in a cupboard before being used again.

Bacteria and yeast from the children's skin could grow to dangerous levels, resulting in skin infections such as impetigo and bacterial conjunctivitis, in people using the paints later.

All the labelling issues, which include meeting requirements for cosmetic products and lack of batch or lot numbers in addition to those described above, will be raised with the manufacturers and importers.