Published: Wednesday, 7th January, 2009 4:41pm

Shop owners fined for selling counterfeit vodka

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TWO shop owners in Slough have been fined for being in possession of 70 counterfeit bottles of vodka.

Pal Singh Arora of Metro Food and Wine, 193 Farnham Road, pleaded guilty to four offences under the Trade Marks Act and Trade Descriptions Act.

He was fined £1,215 (£600 penalty with £615 costs) for offences relating to 12 bottles of Glen's Vodka and 10 bottles of Kirov Vodka.

At a separate court hearing for the same offence, Asif Ali Khan of Victoria Food and Wine, 285-287 Slough High Street, had 48 bottles of counterfeit vodka in his store ready to be sold to the public.

He pleaded guilty to two offences and was fined a total of £1,415 (a £700 penalty with £715 costs).

Peter Adshead, trading standards officer for Slough Borough Council, said: "Retailers have a responsibility to check their shelves and remove any bottles if in doubt.

"The favourite method of obtaining illegal alcohol is to purchase from a white van man who sells direct to the retailer and does not provide an invoice.

"If we find suspicious bottles during an inspection, the retailer must be able to provide details of where the vodka was purchased, as without this they could face a prosecution."

Anyone who has information on shops selling counterfeit vodka can contact trading standards on 08454 040506.