A TOBACCO trader has had his illegal business halted after his home was raided.

He was selling cigarettes and tobacco from his central Middlesbrough home.

Undercover surveillance officers caught him making 23 sales in two hours, including some to underage buyers.

The house was targeted by Customs and trading standards officers after a tip-off from suspicious street wardens.

A total of 8,700 illegal cigarettes and 7kg of tobacco with a value of £3,200 were seized.

The dealer, who has not been identified by Middlesbrough Council, faces prosecution.

The operation involved undercover security cameras being installed.

Councillor Barry Coppinger said: "This house has been turned into the neighbourhood tobacconists.

"It was run without a thought to the law, the peace-of-mind of residents or the wellbeing of the young people these goods were peddled to."

A Customs spokesman said: "This is an excellent result. Illegal trading robs honest businesses and, through lost revenue, deprives the public services we all depend on of funding."