Posted on Monday 6th January 2020
In Staffordshire last year, 34,300 counterfeit items with an estimated value of £204,000 were removed or prevented from entering the supply chain. This included 24,000 illicit cigarettes with a street value of £12,500.
Other notable successful cases for Staffordshire County Council’s Trading Standards service included the prosecutions of four rogue builders from Clayton, a man in Kidsgrove who was selling counterfeit golfing goods on eBay, as well as a Staffordshire livestock keeper from Great Wyrley guilty of a string of animal health charges.
Shop keepers having their licenses removed and suspended, and traders jailed for selling fake cigarettes were also amongst the successes.
The service touches the lives of many communities, from protecting vulnerable people from predatory criminals, maintaining the safety of food and drink, the welfare of farm animals, the safety of goods, as well as maintaining a level playing field for businesses.
A report, highlighting the work of the service will be presented to members of the Staffordshire Safe and Strong Communities Select Committee at their next meeting on Monday 13 January 2020.
Philip Atkins, Leader at Staffordshire County Council said:
“This latest update shows the massive impact that our local trading standards services have in protecting our communities. It’s clear that their work delivers huge value – from potentially saving consumers millions of pounds to supporting some extremely vulnerable victims.
“The team deals with a wide area of work from advising businesses on their responsibilities to helping people who have been affected by illegal business practices or have been ripped off by unscrupulous traders.
“They fight the rising tide of dangerous counterfeit goods, such as unsafe electrical goods, toys and cosmetics which can cause so much misery to our communities.
“They help to keep young people safe by ensuring that retailers act responsibly when selling age restricted products such as knives, tobacco, alcohol, solvents etc. They ensure those who have food allergies are not served with food which is unsafe for them as well as helping those who run sports grounds do so safely.”
Staffordshire’s Trading Standards service relies on local communities being their eyes and ears on the ground. Anyone with information relating to any of these areas of work can get contact details on www.staffordshire.gov.uk