Counterfeiters who sell fakes at car boot sales will face tougher penalties if a new bill gets the go-ahead.

The move will give councils greater powers to crackdown on sellers and organisers.

They will be outlined in a private members bill to be announced next week by John Whittingdale, Conservative chairman of the Commons select committee on Culture, Media and Sport.

He wants to see a crackdown on landowners and market organisers who knowingly allow the sale of fake goods to go on under their noses.

And the proposals have been endorsed by trading standards chiefs in the North-East who have led the fight against counterfeits at car boot sales.

In February of this year 54-year-old George Banks, promoter of the car boot sale at Redcar Racecourse, was fined £6,000 and ordered to pay £2,000 costs after he was found guilty of allowing counterfeit stock to be sold at his event.

And in March car boot pirate Alan Rootham, 38, was given a two-year community rehabilitation order by Judge George Moorhouse and ordered to pay £1,000 within the next six months. He used computer equipment at his home to copy films such as The Italian Job, Finding Nemo and Pirates of the Caribbean before selling them on for as little as £2 each.

Rootham, of Hollystone Drive, Ingleby Barwick, near Stockton, who regularly traded from a van at car boot sales in Thornaby and on Redcar racecourse,

Redcar and Cleveland Council's efforts to clamp down on the sale of counterfeit CDs, DVDs and other items at car boot sales led to its trading standards team recently winning an award from the Anti-Counterfeiting Group.

If the private members bill becomes law organisers of sales will have to register the name, address and vehicle details of would-be dealers 21 days before the sale takes place.

This will enable those known for selling illegal goods to be barred from the event.

Those found to be turning a blind eye to the sale of illegal products could be punished with a £5,000 fine and up to six months in prison.

Redcar and Cleveland Chief Trading Standards Officer, Jeff Bell, said: "We were the first local authority to successfully prosecute a car boot sale promoter for exactly this type of offence.

"But it took a great deal of time and resources because there wasn't this type of legislation in place. Therefore, we welcome this move, which will speed up the process."