Two discount megamarts described as “real-life Temu” have been forced to shut after a consumer watchdog found they were selling hundreds of illegal items.

South African chain Panda Mart launched in Australia to much fanfare earlier this year with two Melbourne outlets selling more than 50,000 heavily discounted products.

The shops, in Cranbourne and Preston, sell toys, homewares, sporting goods and beauty products. Their vast scale, product range and cheap prices mean they often attract large crowds, including families with young children.

But this week the Victorian Supreme Court granted Consumer Affairs Victoria an injunction to force both shops to close for 72 hours after inspectors found hundreds of illegal items on the shelves.

It follows a public warning issued in March by CAV director Nicole Rich after thousands of products being sold at the Cranbourne Panda Mart were found not to meet mandatory product safety and information standards.

“We know many Victorians are looking for bargains when they’re shopping given the cost of living, but they shouldn’t have to worry about picking up dangerous products at the same time, especially ones for babies and kids,” Rich said at the time.

CAV said a further inspection last week found “several items of concern”. They included banned candles with flammable contents next to the wick, toys with unsecured button batteries, choking hazards, and flotation devices without adequate warnings.

“These items are banned or heavily regulated for a reason. Flammable candles, button batteries and toys with small parts that can cause choking are all known killers,” Rich said on Wednesday.

She said the shops had been re-inspected in September and most stocked items were found to meet safety standards. But more recent inspections found the shelves had been refilled with non-compliant items.

“It’s particularly disappointing that Panda Mart appears to have gone from meeting their obligations to restocking their shelves with products that pose a serious danger to the public,” Rich said.

Energy Safe Victoria also launched an investigation after seizing dozens of products and issuing an urgent warning about over table lamps with exposed wires that it said could cause electric shocks if touched when the lamps were on.

“We are calling on everyone who has bought a table lamp at the Panda Mart store in Cranbourne to stop using it immediately,” chief executive Leanne Hughson said.

“I cannot emphasise how important this is. These lamps are potentially deadly.”

The Supreme Court injunction for Consumer Affairs effectively closed both stores for 72 hours from 9am on Wednesday. In that time, product safety inspectors will look at everything being sold at the shops to identify, seize and remove non-compliant products.

The chain posted to social media to say it expected to reopen by 9am Saturday. It followed up on Thursday with a post of “important information” about some of the unsafe products.

Panda Mart was established in 2010 and also has branches in New Zealand, South America, the US and Africa.

The South African chain sources most of its products from China’s export manufacturing hub of Yiwu, many bearing brand names previously unseen in Australia.

Its range of 53,000 goods runs from home decor to stationery and toys, kitchenware and personal care products to sporting goods. Suitcases can cost as little as $40, barbecues $160 and earphones just $1.50 – leading to social media users dubbing it a “real-life Temu”.

Panda Mart drew huge crowds to its store openings, with police called in to control a crowd of about 1000 on the weekend it opened in Cranbourne. Amid scenes of wild disorder, the shop shut its doors on the Saturday before reopening on the Sunday.

“We didn’t expect we would be this busy. We didn’t prepare to get this crowded and this [many] customers,” store owner John Chen told The Sydney Morning Herald.

“We started managing by putting more security and put more staff on the floor, but it’s still too much.”

The Cranbourne shop occupies a site that was once home to a Masters outlet. The Preston branch, meanwhile, is an 8300-square-metre building that was previously a Bunnings.

CAV said the injunction highlighted that it would continue to pursue enforcement options to protect Victorians.

“Every business is responsible for ensuring that the products they sell are safe. Being ignorant is no excuse,” Rich said.