The Consumer Council on Monday urged skateboarders to do their research and consider safety when deciding which board to buy.

The watchdog said it examined 16 boards on sale in Hong Kong and found that only four met European safety standards.

The council's chief executive, Gilly Wong, said five of the skateboard models were structurally unsafe, and had problems like sharp corners and excessively smooth surface.

"When you buy the product, obviously, you have to examine the wheels, the deck, and also the trucks very carefully because this time we also found some structural problems for certain protruding parts that may create higher risks when you ride on it," she said.

Wong also urged consumers to take note of how much weight the skateboards can bear.

"If you are just basically following the design, whether it is stylish or trendy or not, or the price factor, but without looking into the weight that it could carry, that would be creating a risk for yourself."