Fake Nike and Prada found in Birmingham factory raid

Mohammed Tariq said "Nike" jackets and tops were recovered

Fake designer clothes with a street value totalling hundreds of thousands of pounds have been recovered in a factory raid.

Rip-off designer labels including Nike, Prada and Chanel were found by Trading Standards at the hidden site in Handsworth, Birmingham, on Tuesday.

Officers said it was one of the largest operations ever to be disrupted in the city.

The alleged owner of the factory is being investigated, say officials.

A spokesman said: "We've got over 40,000 labels of major branded products that were actually being attached to the goods for sale to the consumer."

Thousands of fake labels were found

He added: "We've also got boxes of blank goods ready for manufacture and boxes of finished goods of a number of brands ready for market."

Clothes were set to have these labels attached, officials said

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West Midlands Fire Service, which was involved in the raid along with West Midlands Police, said people living above the site were at risk because there were no fire alarms or fire safety procedures.

Mohammed Tariq, a senior Trading Standards enforcement officer, confirmed the site was unsafe, adding it was cramped with electrical wires hanging down from the ceiling.

"The factory was concealed really from a main part of the unit," he said.

"It was in a dismal state with no health and safety there. You wouldn't know it was there."

He said the raid was "a fantastic result in smashing a major manufacturing ring".