MORE than £50m-worth of clothing from China has been prevented from entering the UK, a trade body has warned.

As a result, some shops could run out of some items in the coming months, the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said.

The clothing has been prevented from entering Europe because of a change to EU quotas for clothing and textiles imported from China.

A number of this year's quotas are already full, meaning imports of affected goods are being stopped at ports and airports across Europe.

Alisdair Gray, director of the BRC in Brussels, said the huge volume of barred clothing had caused a crisis for smaller UK clothing stores.

''A small retailer has probably invested all of last year's profits in this year's autumn-winter collection. They have paid for their products, which are now stuck in a warehouse,'' he said.

A new quota agreement between the EU and China was signed on June 10 and ratified on July 12. It affects ten Chinese textile and clothing products.

The system was brought in to replace previous quotas that expired on January 1.

Mr Gray criticised European officials for rushing the quota system in, saying it had underestimated demand for imported Chinese clothing.