£1m of illegal cigarettes among goods seized by Staffordshire trading standards last year

Members of the Staffordshire County Council team seized more than £1m of illegal cigarettes and 116kg of illegal tobacco with a street value totalling £325,000.

Meanwhile, in a bid to tackle the increasing availability of illegal vapes and e-cigarettes, officers seized more than 9,436 illegal items worth an estimated £113,232.

The team also dealt with more than 1,600 requests for support from traders in the county, including food businesses seeking advice on allergens and responsible food labelling.

Victoria Wilson, cabinet member responsible for trading standards at Staffordshire County Council, said: "The work of our trading standards service often goes unseen, but the work they do in protecting our communities is invaluable.

"With the current cost of living pressures, when people cannot afford to lose money through fraud or scams, it’s more important than ever that households are protected.

"These crimes can not only affect people financially but can have a really negative impact on their physical and mental health too.

"Just as important to the service is making sure there is a level playing field for legitimate businesses to trade as many continue to face difficult trading conditions.

"Our trading standards service is also a key weapon in the fight against law breaking businesses. Working closely with partner agencies, their valuable work saving consumers millions of pounds of harm and supporting some extremely vulnerable victims continues."

Trading standards officers also worked to protect residents from doorstep crime and rogue traders, bust online text and telephone scams, protect livestock, and support legitimate businesses.

Staffordshire County Council has said the success of the work has prevented a potential £4m cost to health and social care services by protecting people from the impacts of being scammed.

Estimates from a previous Crime Survey for England and Wales (CSEW) suggest there were 5.1m fraud offences in the year ending September 2021.

Additionally, Citizens Advice found in the first five months of 2021 around two thirds of adults had been targeted by a scam, with those over 55 found to be most likely to be targeted over the phone.