£7m of fake goods seized

1:23pm Tuesday 31st July 2007

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TRADING standards officers seized more than £7 million of counterfeit goods from rogue traders in Newport last year.

The massive haul included 72,000 DVDs and more than 700 items of fake clothing.

Illegal traders were snared through internet auction site eBay, car boot sales and at pubs throughout the city.

In one incident, more than 300 fake DVDs were found at a home in Rogerstone after intelligence was gained through eBay.

Consumers have claimed back almost £140,000 as a result of investigations into faulty goods and dishonest traders.

Newport Council carried out 20 successful prosecutions and formally cautioned 14 offenders.

A council spokesman said the boom in the DVD black market and the ease with which crooks can copy films has led to a boom in the number of counterfeit goods seized.

Among the recent hauls are films recently released in the cinema such as Shrek 3, Ocean's 13 and Spiderman 3.

The massive haul dwarfs the £330,000 retail value of counterfeit goods seized five years ago. In 2005, £6,124,200 of goods were captured by trading standards.

Councillor Ray Truman, cabinet member for community safety and sustainability, said: "Every day our trading standards officers are out on the streets of Newport helping protect people's rights.

"It is important Newport consumers feel they have a Council service that they can turn to advice if their purchases go wrong or they feel they have been misled."

The council also tackles rogue builders and checks supermarkets are not selling out of date food unsafe goods. Officers also check petrol pumps and scales for accuracy.

Trading Standards will be running consumer advice sessions a twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 10am and 1:30pm where members of the public can get advice in person on a range of issues.

Consumers can also get telephone consumer advice by calling 08454 040506 between 8am to 6.30 pm, Moday to Friday, and on Saturday, 9am to 1pm.