Lib Dems demand counterfeit action

The Liberal Democrats have called for more action to be taken against counterfeit and smuggled goods.

The call came as the party unveiled new figures showing that over £13m of illegitimate goods were seized last year by trading standards officers in England and Wales.

The Lib Dems used freedom of information requests to 132 out of 170 local authority areas with trading standards departments to obtain the figures.

They discovered a quadrupling of the amount of good seized since 2002, including nearly half a million pirated DVDs, 80,000 packets of illicit cigarettes and over 100,000 items of clothing.

Lib Dem communities spokesman Andrew Stunell said: "Trading Standards departments are struggling to keep up with the flood of counterfeit goods.

"The government must crack down on smuggling. Illegal goods are costing the taxpayer millions of pounds in uncollected receipts, while British businesses are losing out because of this influx of dodgy products.

"People shouldn't be tempted by counterfeits - there is no guarantee of quality and they are often linked to organised crime.

"Ministers should be supporting trading standards departments in tackling the increasing problem of this damaging trade."