More than 6,000 counterfeit cigarettes seized in Bury

Tuesday, 4 December 2018 16:00

More than 6,000 counterfeit cigarettes have been seized as part of a crackdown on rogue trading in Bury.

Over the past year Bury Police’s Partnership Team and Trading Standards have been spearheading a multi-agency operation to tackle rogue businesses for trading illicit tobacco, electricity abstraction, human trafficking and poor business practices.

The work sees the team use intelligence from the community, as well as officers, to build a case for enforcement action on businesses.

These days of action take place every month and on this particular day (Tuesday 22 November) the focus was on Bury Town Centre.

In total, nine convenience store-type businesses were visited where 6,000 counterfeit cigarettes were seized, 1.5kg of counterfeit loose tobacco and four premises closed on suspicion of electricity abstraction and environmental issues.

No one was arrested but enquiries remain ongoing.

Superintendent Paul Walker, District Commander for Bury Police, said: “Days of action such as this show how committed we are to tackling the concerns of residents.

“We will continue to work with partners to stamp out rogue trading or illicit behaviour by businesses.

“I want to say thank you to everyone who has been in touch with us – your information is vital to successful days such as this.

Lorraine Chamberlin, head of health and environmental protection at Bury Council, said: “Bury Council enforcement staff are happy to support these days of action which have revealed some concerning criminality and health and safety issues.

“We hope that this send a message out that rogue traders are not welcome in Bury.”

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