Border Force seize £200k of fake items across the East Midlands

These football shirts, designer bags, hairdryers, watches and earphones are all fake

Border force agents have seized a massive haul of counterfeit and often unsafe products in the run-up to Christmas.

A team working in the East Midlands have found collections of fake football shirts to dodgy electrical items.

About 100 boxes of items worth £200,000 have been seized in just two weeks.

Colin Thompson, from Border Force, told the BBC the production and sale of counterfeit items "is not a victimless crime".

He added that 98% of electronic items that were tested were found to have defects.

Staffing has doubled at the Border Force East Midlands examinations hub in recent years due to a significant increase in counterfeit goods.

There are now 40 people working around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Border Force agent Colin Thompson said spelling mistakes and wrong colours on items often gave them away

Fake items, often at a cut price, are getting harder to spot.

Border Force agent Ben Salt checked over what seems to be a high-end hairdryer in the correct packaging.

But he quickly noticed what made this counterfeit.

He said on a genuine hairdryer product meant for UK use, it should have a small hole in the fuse. But this product did not have one.

"Everyone is looking for a bargain at Christmas, but they might get more than they bargained for with these products," Border Force agent Steve Terry said.

"This is because they fail all the electrical safety tests - particularly the hair straighteners and the hairdryers - anything you plug in could give you something worse than any cheap present might save you.

"It could start a house fire so they're really not safe."

Border Force agents said counterfeit electrical items could lead to fires

Border Force has said the production and sale of counterfeit items "is not a victimless crime".

They are often linked to organised crime gangs, with child labour and modern slavery often used in their production.

Mr Thompson offered some advice for people who may think they have a counterfeit product.

"Look at the branding, look at the item and the spelling, the goods themselves, the colours," he said.

"If you're receiving an item for a fraction of the price, then it probably isn't genuine."

All counterfeit products seized, which may have been wrapped and put under a Christmas tree, will be destroyed.

A huge haul of counterfeit products are set to be destroyed