Counterfeit goods worth more than £170,000 have been seized in a raid on a car boot sale.

In a joint operation, Durham County Council's Trading Standards and Durham Constabulary recovered pirate CDs, DVDs, MP3s and computer games from the car boot sale in Seaham.

They were acting on intelligence, having decided that the trading site - a field on the outskirts of the town - was worth investigating.

The goods, taken from around five stalls, will now be sent away to confirm that they are counterfeits.

Trading standards officials will then decide whether to prosecute, and will take action to prevent the items from being returned to the traders.

Peter Fleming, the council's assistant head of trading standards, warned that more swoops would follow.

"This was only one of a number of exercises that we will be instigating over the next few months," he said.

"We are not going to say where and when, but anyone who is trading in these goods could find themselves subject to seizures and prosecutions.

"We intend to send a clear message to the people involved in producing and distributing these items.

"We're determined to fight hard against counterfeiting in the county, and we will co-ordinate our efforts with the police and industry."

Mr Fleming said that although the selling of counterfeit goods was a national problem, he suspected that it was widespread in County Durham.

"I'm sure the £170,000 worth of goods is the tip of the iceberg," he said.

"These things are sold from houses, factories and elsewhere.

"Wherever we get information from, we will look into it."

Mr Fleming said people shouldn't fall into the misapprehension that counterfeiting only harmed corporate businesses. "It isn't just places like HMV that suffer," he said.

"The extent of this trade is putting the livelihoods of small local companies at risk."

He added: "The goods might look the part, but when people get them home, they quite often find that the quality is nowhere near that of the genuine article.

"If that's the case, it's very difficult for them to do something about it.

"People could well find themselves out of pocket."