£1m worth of fake goods recovered

Well-known New York jewellers Tiffany & Co has praised a Teesside council for smashing a counterfeit smuggling operation worth more than £1m.

Police contacted Stockton Trading Standards after seizing fake goods bearing the label in the East Midlands.

Officers then raided a Stockton property and recovered fake Tiffany jewellery and other counterfeit goods worth more than £1m.

A man and a woman were arrested and bailed by Cleveland Police.

Dave McGowan, Tiffany's Vice President of Security, said: "Those who traffic in phoney merchandise cheat consumers and debase the integrity of brands that have taken many decades to establish.

Counterfeit sellers

"The problem has been aggravated by Internet auction sites that enable criminals to operate counterfeit distribution rings anonymously," Mr McGowan added.

Trading Standards said the fake jewellery would have fetched £981,000 and the counterfeit designer bags and scarves were priced at more than £50,000 in total.

David Kitching, Stockton Council's Trading Standards manager, said: "This is a jewel in the crown for the work of our officers.

"We are happy to take action on any information that we receive and if anyone has details of any counterfeit sellers, they should contact us."