SPECIAL sniffer dogs have played a major role in helping officers find thousands of pounds worth of illegal cigarettes in Slough.

Slough Trading Standards officers, Cooper and Yo-Yo the sniffer dogs worked together to trace more than 1,000 illegal cigarettes from shops.

Trading standards officers visited seven shops in Slough last week on the hunt for illegal tobacco.

Assisted by Cooper, a red labrador and Yo-Yo, a cocker spaniel from BWY Canine, they managed to find illegal tobacco from the boot of an unlocked and abandoned car – with a street value of more than £10,000.

In total four seizures were made as part of an ongoing campaign to eliminate the illegal tobacco trade in Slough.

Councillor Balvinder S Bains, cabinet member for regulation and public protection, said: “Our aim is to rid Slough of people selling and buying illegal tobacco on the cheap.

“It may be residents don’t realise they are buying illegal tobacco, or they don’t care because it is cheap, however, the shopkeepers certainly should know it is illegal and that they are breaking the law by selling it, however covertly.

“These retailers are not only cashing in selfishly in a way unfair to other shopkeepers but damaging the local economy in a way potentially dangerous to residents.

“We will not tolerate this in Slough, and we will not hesitate to take action against those we find flouting the law.”

Illegal tobacco, often sold for less than legal and taxed products, means shopkeepers can undercut the prices of other nearby premises, leading to unfair competition.

And cheaper prices often mean people are less likely to give up smoking as the cost is no longer an incentive to quit.

Further action against the premises where illegal tobacco was found is now being considered, including prosecution for the offences.