A convenience store could be stripped of its alcohol licence after being caught selling illegal tobacco for the sixth time in just over three years. Trading standards bosses found 400 Richmond cigarettes hidden in empty cereal boxes at Heaton Off Licence, in Heaton Chapel, Stockport, during a raid with a tobacco detection dog.
A sample of the cigarettes was sent for examination which confirmed they were counterfeit. The packaging also failed to comply with regulations which state the colour must be ‘drab dark brown with a matt finish’.
The search, in May this year, came after the Manchester Road shop sold a packet of ‘non-compliant Richmond cigarettes’ during a ‘test purchase' the previous month. On this occasion an independent surveillance company was sold cigarettes in non-compliant packaging. These were also suspected to be counterfeit.
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