Shop fined for dangerous, counterfeit cigarettes

A Portsmouth shop has been fined £7,000 for the supply of dangerous illicit tobacco.

Sniffer dogs found 7,100 illegal cigarettes hidden in a waste bin and an untaxed van at the rear of Maya Delicatessen on Fratton Road.

The business was one of three targeted by Portsmouth City Council's trading standards team, backed by police and HMRC officers, following tip-offs that cigarettes were being hidden in shops and sold under the counter.

Investigators found coffee had been used to line the door sills of the vehicle to try to put sniffer dogs off the scent of the counterfeit cigarettes.