THOUSANDS of pounds worth of illegal cigarettes, tobacco and alcohol were seized in a crackdown - a council’s biggest haul to date.

A joint operation between Bucks County Council trading standards team and HMRC on Tuesday last week (8/4) targeted stores in Wycombe and South Bucks districts.

Goods were seized from eight stores across both areas including 691 packets of cigarettes and 4,250 grams of tobacco with an estimated market value of £4,300.

Investigations are ongoing into the goods believed to be either counterfeit or imported without duty paid.

Officers also seized more than 450 bottles of wine and 90 litres of spirits thought to be non-duty paid or counterfeit.

Some of the haul, hidden from view in the stores, was flushed out by tobacco detection sniffer dog Phoebe from Pembrokeshire specialists BWY Canine.

Lawrence Eldridge, Bucks County Council trading standards officer said the operation was carried out acting on intelligence and was one of a number of visits officers had made to shops across the county in the past year. It was the biggest tobacco and alcohol seizure to date.

He added: “We can’t stress enough the risks to the public of illegal tobacco and alcohol, and we want to make sure we’re doing all we can to protect them.

“Past analysis of counterfeit tobacco products has shown they can contain dangerous ingredients such as cyanide, and even plastic, sand, insects and rat droppings.” Bucks County Council would not reveal which stores the goods had been seized from while investigations were still ongoing.