A SOUTHAMPTON shop worker has been fined after selling illegal goods.

Anita Zajac sold cigarettes and tobacco that did not carry appropriate health warnings and Polish vodka without proper purchase records at Rywal Polish Shop in St Mary’s Road.

She was fined £150 and ordered to pay £100 costs at Southampton Magistrates Court after the city council brought a successful prosecution against her.

The court also ordered the destruction of the items seized by the council’s Trading Standards team including 36 bottles of vodka, 146 packs of cigarettes and 99 packs of tobacco, all of which could have sold for over £2,000.

It is believed Ms Zajac bought alcohol and cigarettes in Poland with the intention of selling them in the shop that she worked in.

The owner of Rywal Polish Shop was not involved and Ms Zajac kept the money herself.

Ms Zajac had already made around £200 from the sale of illegal vodka and cigarettes on which no UK tax had been paid and was unable to supply records of where she had bought the vodka from.

Clive Robinson, the leader of the council's Trading Standards team said: “Traceability within the food supply chain is essential to ensure that food and drink that is supplied to the consumer can be traced back to the manufacturer or packer.

“There is no evidence or suggestion in this case that the vodka was anything other than a genuine product, albeit not UK duty paid, but for many other products proper English language labelling, storage and handling within the supply chain is critical to food safety.

“Ms Zajac cannot identify where she bought the vodka from and had there been any problems this would have prevented us from identifying what had gone wrong.”