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Professor Sarah Hainsworth (pictured), Head of the Department of Engineering, investigating the safety of fidget spinners.

The spinners, which were originally designed to help children with conditions such as autism deal with stress, have become a playground craze, spreading globally in recent months.

An example of a fidget spinner

The items were put through testing by blades expert Professor Hainsworth. She tested the spinners by stabbing into a tomato, used as a substitute for an eye, and pork skin, used as a substitute for human skin.

All three spinners had the ability to puncture the tomato, and two out of three were able to puncture the pork skin.