Shopkeepers caught selling counterfeit cigarettes

Video footage from BBC South East caught shoppers openly selling cigarettes in their East Sussex store to undercover reporters. The Police subsequently seized tobacco products worth £30,000 from four shops and a home. One man was arrested and was bailed until 5 December.

Amber Rudd, Tory MP for Hastings and Rye said in the programme: “The idea of [smuggled cigarettes] being sold over the counter in newsagents is really quite shocking. Anything that eats away at the £11bn that’s legitamately raised from tobacco sales is hurting the economy of the country.”

Kent shopkeeper and Tobacco Retailers Alliance spokesperson Debbie Corris said on the show: “We’re losing legitimate sales and we lose footfall coming through the door. It affects all retailers in a big way.”