NEARLY £4,000 worth of illegal cigarettes and tobacco have been seized from a Bridgwater off-licence and a hidden storage area in a Taunton shop, thanks to a multi-agency operation.

Designed to crack down on the illegal trade in black market tobacco, officers from Devon & Somerset Trading Standards, and Avon & Somerset Police, used three tobacco detection dogs to sniff out the illegal tobacco.

The latest action follows the seizure of 60,000 illegal cigarettes and 11kg of hand-rolling tobacco from premises in Bridgwater and Taunton in December.

This success meant authorities received new information from people in the community and prompted the latest operation.

In one premises, although illegal tobacco was not discovered, hidden storage units concealed within door-frames and operated by remote electro-magnet were identified with all three detection dogs indicating that tobacco had recently been stored there.

Councillor David Hall, deputy leader of Somerset County Council, said: “Those involved in this illicit trade won’t be checking people’s ages and will sell to children at pocket money prices.

“That’s unacceptable and we will continue to act on the information we receive and bring to book those we suspect of selling illegal tobacco.

Inspector Andrew Pritchard, of Avon and Somerset Police, added: “Our officers will continue to support these partnership initiatives.

“The police recognise that the sale of illegal tobacco within our local communities is intrinsically linked to serious, organised crime.

“If you are tempted to buy a cheap packet of counterfeit cigarettes, you should know that your money could ultimately end up in the pocket of criminal gangs who use it to fund drug dealing, weapons and money laundering.”

Anyone with information about illegal tobacco sellers can report them to Trading Standards or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.