MORE than 6,500 suspected illegal cigarettes have been seized in a raid on a house thought to be involved in the sale of tobacco.

Council officers seized the cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco worth more than £1,500 during a raid on a house in Kimblesworth, near Chester-le-Street, on Tuesday.

Durham County Council’s consumer protection team obtained a search warrant from magistrates to carry out the raid alongside officers from Durham Police.

Officials removed 6,640 cigarettes and 2.5kg of hand rolling tobacco in the operation.

It is believed the items were being sold from the house illegally, for £3.50 for a pack of cigarettes and £7 for a pouch of tobacco.

A woman was interviewed by consumer protection officers on suspicion of selling counterfeit tobacco and tobacco not displaying the required health labelling.

Since April 1, joint operations between the council and police have led to the seizure of more than 450,000 illicit cigarettes and more than 28kg of hand-rolling tobacco across County Durham, with a combined street value of about £84,000.

Joanne Waller, head of the council’s environment, health and consumer protection department, said: “The sale of these illegal cigarettes sidesteps the controls that lawful businesses have in place to uphold age of sale laws and undermines the work of the stop smoking services.

“This illegal source of cheap tobacco encourages a whole new generation of young smokers and provides little incentive or motivation for other smokers to quit.

“There will be no hiding place for those who continue to flout the law and indulge in this criminal activity.”

Anyone with information on suspected counterfeit goods sales, such as tobacco, cigarettes, clothing, trainers, and alcohol, is asked to contact the Consumer Helpline on 03454 04 05 06.