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Billingham shop ordered to shut down for selling illegal cigarettes

Billingham shop ordered to shut down for selling illegal cigarettes

A Billingham shop has been ordered to remain closed for selling fake cigarettes to customers at less than half the price of real ones. The shop was also found selling them to underage buyers.

According to local reports, The Red Shop in Belasis Avenue, formerly known as The Yellow Shop, has been given three-month closure order at Teesside Magistrates' Court. Earlier this week, the court heard that trading standard officers investigated the shop after they received several complaints about sales of 'cheap' counterfeit cigarettes.


The officers found that cigarettes sold to customers were not in plain standardised packaging as required by the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 and did not have a combined health warning in accordance with the requirements under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

Test purchases carried out also confirmed that cigarettes bought from The Red Shop were found to be counterfeit, in contravention of the Trade Marks Act 1994. Cigarettes were frequently being sold to customers for £5 – well below the average cost of 20 cigarettes which usually sell for around £12. Reports were also made of sales allegedly being made to children.

Cllr Norma Stephenson, the council’s cabinet member for access, communities and community safety, said: "I'm pleased our trading standards officers have been able to secure these closure orders today because it shows that we take the sale of illegal and counterfeit cigarettes very seriously.

"Illegal cigarettes pose a big risk to communities because it's very difficult to know what is in them and it's incredibly worrying that such cigarettes are being sold so cheaply to our residents and particularly to children.

"I'd like to thank the team for their hard work and the work of Cleveland Police, to get the maximum closure of three months. I'd also encourage local people to report any sales of illicit/counterfeit tobacco to us so we can take the necessary action," reports quoted Stephenson as saying.

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Independent retailers are demanding tougher police action, more bobbies on the beat and harsher punishments as shoplifting levels reach an all-time high, a new survey reveals.

A whopping ninety-one per cent of respondents to a survey conducted by the Federation of Independent Retailers (the Fed) called for more police patrols on streets, while a similar number - 90 per cent - said that shoplifters should be handed harsher sentences.

Seven out of 10 respondents (72 per cent) said their stores had experienced shoplifting, break ins and damage to property, while they and their staff had been physically or verbally threatened.

Just under half of respondents (47 per cent) said they and their employees had been threatened or had suffered abuse and violence when asking for proof of age ahead of selling an age-restricted product.

Forty-four per cent reported that they and their staff had faced abuse or violence because they had refused to make a proxy sale – selling an age restricted product to a customer buying for a minor.

The results of the Fed’s survey came as new figures from the Office of National Statistics revealed that shoplifting was at a record high, with almost half a million offences recorded last year.

According to the ONS, 469,788 offences were logged by forces in the year to June 2024 – a 29 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

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“Inadequate responses from the police and a slap on the wrist for offenders means that shoplifting is soaring, and offenders are becoming more aggressive and brazen,” said Fed National President Mo Razzaq.

“From the responses we received, it is clear that real action is needed by police, by courts and by the government to stem the overwhelming tide of crime against retailers and their staff. Everyone deserves to feel safe at work and for their businesses to be protected against criminals.

“Fed members are also sending a clear message that one of the catalysts for verbal and physical abuse in stores is asking for proof of age before selling an age restricted product. If the government presses ahead with its plans to phase out smoking and vaping through a progressive ban to gradually end the sale of tobacco products across the country, independent retailers will be subject to even greater levels of violence, abuse and theft.”

Calling for action from the government and not just words, Mr Razzaq continued: “Without effective deterrent, criminals and opportunistic members of the public will continue to commit crimes.”

According to Ministry of Justice statistics, during the year to March 2024, 431 fines were handed out for retail theft under £100, while Home Office statistics for the same period show that 2,252 cautions were accepted for shoplifting.