Norton store closed after counterfeit tobacco haul

Police and a sniffer dog also took part in the raid

A Teesside shop has been shut down after a haul of counterfeit tobacco, some stashed away in purpose-built "hides", was recovered.

Trading standards officers from Stockton Council carried out a raid at the Norton Shop in November following a number of tip-offs.

More than 300,000 illegal cigarettes and tobacco pouches were found both in the shop and in an upstairs flat.

An interim three-month closure order has now been granted by magistrates.

One of the hiding places was in a box behind a toilet sign

While some of the counterfeit items were found in the shop - including some hidden behind a toilet sign above a door in its back room - the main haul was from the flat above a neighbouring shop.

Boxes of illicit tobacco were found piled floor to ceiling in a custom-made roof compartment as well as stashes in wardrobes in the hallway, drawers and cupboards in the kitchen, and boxes in the bedroom.

All in all, officers seized 212,020 counterfeit cigarettes and 832 pouches of suspected counterfeit tobacco, along with 439 non-compliant e-cigarettes with a total value of about £150,000.

A criminal investigation is now under way

A council spokesman said: "Those involved in this illicit trade obviously have no conscience - they're only interested in making money and don't care about the harm they're causing to our communities or that such activities encourage children to take up smoking.

"As this case shows, they're also resorting to increasingly sophisticated methods to try to evade detection."

A related criminal investigation is now under way.