TRADING standards officers have appealed to the public to identify so-called “tab houses”

where illicit cigarettes are sold to children.

Richard Ferry, a specialist officer from the North-East Trading Standards Association, said the public’s help was needed urgently.

It follows the revelation that tab houses are the biggest single outlet for smuggled tobacco in the region.

On run-down housing estates, tab houses sell cut-price smuggled cigarettes to children as young as 11.

Mr Ferry said a recent survey of buying habits of underage smokers in the North of England showed that in the North-East, 30 per cent of illicit tobacco was bought from private houses, compared with only 14 per cent in the North-West.

“In London, they have a particular problem with sales from street markets – in other places it is from pubs or the back of a van,” he said.

“For reasons that we do not know, the main source in the North-East seems to be tab houses,” said Mr Ferry.

Millions of pounds are being spent in the region on helping adult smokers give up, but there is growing concern that more and more youngsters are getting hooked on cigarettes. “It is getting harder for youngsters to buy cigarettes from shops, so it is a matter of great concern that they are able to buy them from tab houses,” said Mr Ferry.

Intelligence provided to trading standards officers suggests that the two main brands of illicit cigarettes are called Jing Ling and Palace.

It is thought they are produced in the Ukraine or the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and smuggled into the UK via Poland.

They are sold for between £2.50 and £3 for a pack of 20.

Many are sold by women who are known as “tab wifies”

or “fag wifies”, said Mr Ferry.

“We need help from the public to close these tab houses down,” he added.

“Please ring your local council and ask for trading standards. You can report tab houses anonymously.”

The British Heart Foundation said the news about the scale of illicit cigarettes sold in tab houses to children was “shocking” and highlighted the need for a crackdown on smuggled tobacco.