Derby City Council Trading Standards officers have seized £2,500 worth of illicit cigarettes as part of an underage test purchase exercise at shops in Derby. Two shops made sales of illicit cigarettes which had no duty paid on them to a fourteen year old child.

As part of the operation, police arrested one person who was been bailed to return to the police station at a later date.

A total quantity of 7,620 cigarettes and 233 pouches of tobacco, with a street value of £2,500, were seized from one of the premises.

These incidents follow a successful joint operation with Trading Standards and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs on Friday 3rd April 2009, when a seizure was made of 14 cases of counterfeit vodka, 40 bottles of illicit spirits and around 10,000 illicit cigarettes. These items, and the van in which they were found were seized by HMRC.

Cabinet Member for Housing and Public Protection, Bob Troup said: "Once again, we've taken some potentially dangerous tobacco and illegal alcohol off the street. We'll continue to work with police and customs to fight the criminals."