TRADING standards are warning Christmas shoppers to be careful when tempted to buy cheap gifts from car boot sales and the Internet.

Officers in Southampton received complaints from people who had purchased memory cards and Nintendo games from a website which failed to arrive, did not work or were reported as copies.

Working with the Entertain-ment and Leisure Software Publishers Association, officers raided a flat in Bitterne and uncovered a thriving unlawful business.

The operator of the website, Goubin Huang, was importing large quantities of memory cards, “chipped” Nintendo hard drives and other items. Huang was offering to load Nintendo games onto memory cards which could then be inserted into game cartridges which would fit genuine Nintendo consoles.

Officers also seized counterfeit handbags and purses, cigarettes labelled in languages other than English, and packaging designed to go with counterfeit products Hampshire County Council’s trading standards officers say they seized over 10,000 items of fake designer goods including perfume, jewellery and clothing.

They are warning they can offer a temptingly cheap alternative to buying from high street shops but are made from inferior materials and are often dangerous, and could result in injury or even death.

Leader of Hampshire County Council, Councillor Ken Thornber said: “Buying a fake this Christmas might seem harmless, but research into the origins of these products shows that they can often be the tip of a very nasty iceberg, and may be linked to organised crime.”