MORE than £1,000 worth of illegal tobacco was seized from four shops in Southampton.

Trading Standards at Southampton City Council led a joint operation with police specially-trained sniffer dogs to crack down on the sale of illegal tobacco in Southampton.

Inspections of four premises in the City Centre, Shirley and Portswood areas were made acting on information gathered at public health Illegal Tobacco Roadshows.

Southampton City Council said that products seized were mainly non-duty paid foreign cigarettes and tobacco, which were not labelled with prescribed health warnings, however counterfeit Mayfair cigarettes and chewing tobacco were also confiscated.

Cllr Dave Shields, cabinet member for health at Southampton City Council, said: “Sellers of illegal tobacco are profiting from illegal activity.

“The lower price makes it harder for existing smokers to give up and often makes tobacco available to children. We will continue our efforts to tackle this criminal activity and sellers should be aware that any attempt to conceal illegal tobacco will fail.”

Anyone wishing to report the sale of illegal tobacco can report anonymously via the Stop Illegal Tobacco website at stop-illegal-tobacco.co.uk/share-info-anonymously or by calling the confidential Illegal Tobacco Hotline on 0300 999 6 999.