Booster seats which are backless will soon be outlawed for smaller children under new legislation being brought in later this year.

At present, children around three years-old who weigh as little as 15kg, can sit in backless booster seats in vehicles.

The law currently states they must remain in them until they are 12 years old, or at least 135cm tall.

Watch how putting your child in a car seat wearing a winter coat could endanger their life

Video Loading

But many child car seat experts agree that this type of booster seat is unsuitable for such young children.

Now, as reported by Which? , the backless seats will only be approved for use for children taller than 125cm and weighing more than 22kg.

While booster cushions are a belt positioning device, they are simply designed to lift your child up enough so that the adult seat belt restrains them correctly. They do not offer any additional protection.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

They don’t pass a side impact test because they do not have a back and side wings to cushion a child from the force of a collision, and they do not place a child near the vehicle's side impact protection.

Shocking figures recently released have shown a third of parents don't bother to use them.

According to a new report by Good Egg Safety , 34 per cent of eight to 11 year olds in the UK are not using a booster seat on car journeys when one is required.

Kat Furlong, Good Egg safety manager and training expert, added: “A high-back booster is far more preferable to a booster cushion, to provide children with adequate head, neck and torso protection from side impacts, which booster cushions do not offer.

"We implore parents to buy these instead and ensure they are the right seat for their child and car."