Trading standards seize £40,000 of fake goods at Hampshire market

FAKE clothes, jewellery and accessories selling for more than £40,000 have been seized from a popular Hampshire market by police and trading standards officers.

Stunned shoppers watched on as more than 40 officers swooped on eight stalls at Blackbushe Market, confiscating around 2,000 items and arresting six people.

Industry experts were on hand to help identify any items that could be possible illegal counterfeits.

Jeans, tracksuits, jackets, trainers and motorcycle leathers were all seized as suspect, along with wallets, handbags and items of jewellery.

It is the first time the county's trading standards officers have swooped on Hampshire markets this year and confiscated suspect goods.

Nationally, counterfeiting is thought to cost the British economy around £11bn every year.

In March, police arrested a trader at Eastleigh Market and seized around 360 pirate DVDs, including many of films that at the time had only just been released in cinemas.

The Blackbushe operation, which also included officers from the UK Border Agency and Accredited Community Safety Officers (ACSOs), happened on September 21, but details have only just been released.

It happened at the biggest outdoor Sunday market in Europe, which regularly attracts up to 20,000 bargain-hunters to the north of the county.

The purpose-built site covers an area the size of 20 football pitches, and can house 1,000 stalls selling household items, electrical goods, clothes, food, cosmetics, bikes, tools and plants.

The leader of Hampshire County Council, Cllr Ken Thornber said he is delighted with the results of the operation.

"This is another excellent example of partnership working," he said.

"I am particularly pleased that the County Council's ACSOs were able to assist in this operation, providing support to enable the police, Trading Standards and immigration officers to focus on their core duties."

Five of the arrested people have now been released on bail, pending further enquiries by trading standards.

Three men from Birmingham, aged 20, 23 and 26, a 45-year-old man from Ilford, Essex, and a 24-year-old man from Rochester in Kent must all report back to Hampshire police in November.

The sixth person has been released without charge.

Trading standards are now urging any member of the public who suspects someone of selling fakes to report them for investigation, regardless of whether the goods are offered at a market, on the internet or in a shop.

original article
dailyecho