More than 38,000 hoverboards have been seized at UK borders and Tesco, Amazon, John Lewis and Argos have all stopped selling the trendy boards.
The gadget, which sports stars and singers such as Justin Bieber and Lily Allen have all played on, was set to be the must-have Christmas present this year.
The boards allow you to travel around at 10mph, hands free, like being on an electronic skateboard, with those riding it leaning forward and backwards.
But now the hoverboards are said to be dangerous, causing the leading retailers to withdraw them from sale and for thousands due to be imported into this country being held at the UK borders as they were deemed unsafe to use due to low quality batteries.
These batteries are feared to be prone to exploding.
Are hoverboards dangerous?
Since hoverboards became popular there have been multiple instances where users have suffered broken bones after losing their balance and injuring themselves.
There has been one fatality to date when 15-year-old Nawaf Al-Tuwayan, from north west London, who was using a hoverboard fell in front of a bus and was dragged 200 yards along the road earlier this month.
Why are they being withdrawn from sale?
An investigation by the National Trading Standards body raised concerns over plugs, chargers, batteries, cabling and cut-off switches which often fail on the boards following unexplained fires.
If I have already bought a hoverboard, what can I do?
Amazon has said that it will refund customers who have purchased the boards. The online retailer sent an email out to those who have bought one saying: "We've received information that your order purchased through the Amazon.co.uk website is unsafe for use as this product is supplied with a non-compliant UK plug."
It then goes on to say these customers should dispose of the boards at a recycling centre, and that they will receive a refund and that the 'inconvenience' it will cause outweighs the safety concerns.
If you've bought one from Tesco, John Lewis and Argos, you should contact the retailers about your particular hoverboard as only certain brands are being withdrawn from those stores.
