A WOMAN is urging shoppers to be extra careful when buying designer goods online after being caught out by a fake Barbour website.

Val Halton, from Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, was delighted when her husband, Phil, decided to treat her to a new wax jacket earlier this month.

The couple looked online and Mrs Halton found a jacket she liked on a website called barboursales.co.uk,

The website appeared genuine so Mr Halton ordered the jacket for £166.

But when he checked his bank statement he discovered £174 had been withdrawn by a Chinese company for “household goods.”

Fearing the coat may be fake, Mrs Halton contacted Barbour and the North-East clothing manufacturer confirmed the website was not an authorised retailer.

Mrs Halton, 54, said: “I just want people to be extra careful. It looks like a professional website and everyone I have showed it to can’t believe it isn’t genuine.

“I am the kind of person who always reads the small print but I was caught out.”

The website claims to be linked to Oceanlane, an established clothes shop and genuine Barbour stockist in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

However, the owner has confirmed it has no connection with the store.

Brenda Readman-Bell, group finance and IT director at Barbour, said: “At Barbour, as a manufacturer of high quality clothing and accessories, we take the issue of counterfeit clothing very seriously. We work hard to take down any website, sponsored links and online auctions that we believe are selling counterfeit Barbour products.

“Where appropriate we will take legal action to prevent counterfeiting of Barbour products and the misuse of our brand and designs.”

A full list of authorised stockists can be found at barbour.com