Stockton town centre shop selling counterfeit cigarettes is CLOSED

A Stockton town centre shop which repeatedly sold counterfeit and illicit cigarettes has been closed.

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council secured a three-month closure order notice for Berushka on Hartington Road at Teesside Magistrate's Court on Friday (July 14).

The Court heard how test purchases were carried out by the Council's Trading Standards team, where officers found a packet of cigarettes could be bought for £5, well below the average cost.

The packets also did not have an identification number and were not in plain standardised packaging as required by The Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015.

Some of the packets also did not include the required health warnings.

The business operator was ordered by the Court to pay the Council £130 towards costs.

Councillor Norma Stephenson, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Access, Communities and Community Safety, said: "The closure order is a great result and I would like to thank all of the Trading Standards officers who have been involved in this case, as well as officers from Cleveland Police. It once again shows that we take a zero tolerance approach when it comes to the sale of illicit and counterfeit cigarettes.

"Illicit tobacco sales are often linked to low level and high level organised crime and often go hand in hand with things like drug and alcohol offences, child exploitation and money laundering.

"It also undermines the efforts made to help people stop smoking, which is of course a massive issue up and down the country."

A Cleveland Police Spokesperson, said: "Cleveland Police will continue to work with our local authority partners to support their on-going work to tackle the sale of illicit or counterfeit products.

"This result demonstrates that anyone found taking part in such sales can expect to be dealt with robustly."

This work was carried out as part of Operation Cece, which is run in partnership with the National Trading Standards and HMRC to help tackle the sales of illicit tobacco.

Chair of National Trading Standards, Lord Michael Bichard, said:"The trade in illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law.

"Having removed 21 million illegal cigarettes, 5,800kg of hand rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale, the National Trading Standards initiative in partnership with HMRC continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade."

Anyone with information on the supply of illicit tobacco from any business or residential premises across Stockton-on-Tees Borough can contact the Council's Trading Standards team on 01642 526560 or email trading.standards@stockton.gov.uk.

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