MP 'not surprised' by BBC mini-mart findings

Top Store in Crewe is one of the more than 100 businesses linked to Kurdish crime gang that BBC reporters uncovered across Britain

Findings of undercover BBC reporters, posing as asylum seekers, who were offered the chance to buy a mini-mart in Crewe was not surprising, an MP has said.

Connor Naismith, the Labour MP for Crewe and Nantwich, told BBC Radio Stoke that neither himself nor his constituents would "be surprised to see what was going on there".

The Top Store was one of more than 100 shops highlighted in the BBC investigation about Kurdish crime gangs across Britain, but Cheshire Police said it had visited it since and found it had changed hands in recent days.

The Home Office has said it would investigate the BBC's findings.

More than 100 businesses were linked to a Kurdish gang enabling migrants to work illegally selling counterfeit cigarettes in High Street mini-marts, the undercover reporters discovered.

One of those, Top Store, is based on Nantwich Road in Crewe.

Connor Naismith said he and many of his constituents "won't be surprised" by the BBC's findings

"These organised crime gangs have been preying on vulnerable people and have gone under the radar for too long", Naismith said.

He added the "lack of capacity" in local government to tackle it "doesn't help".

"We know it's the responsibility of Trading Standards to investigate these things, local government has been gutted so I'm sure that's going to be something to do with it," he continued.

"One of the things I'm going to be doing is engage with Cheshire East Council and ask what they can do, and what support they need, in order to be able to crack down on this stuff more effectively."

'Approach BBC for evidence'

Cheshire East Council has been approached for comment.

Cheshire Police said it had previously visited the store "on a number of occasions".

It said following the BBC's report, it had taken "swift action" and visited again.

"It was found that the store has changed hands in recent days and there was no trace of the suspects featured in the BBC's piece," the force said.

"Enquiries in relation to the offences broadcast in the BBC's piece remain ongoing and we will also be approaching the corporation in regards to any footage and evidence, which may assist our investigation."