THOUSANDS of illegal tobacco products have been destroyed following a major crackdown on illicit tobacco sales in Darlington.

More than 68,000 cigarettes and 103kg of hand rolling tobacco, seized over a two year period by Darlington Trading Standards and Durham Police, have gone up in smoke thanks to County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service (CDDFRS).

The haul from shops and private sellers included counterfeit, illegally imported and incorrectly labelled tobacco. It was destroyed yesterday at the fire service’s training centre at Bowburn, near Durham.

Shaun Trevor, of Darlington Council’s trading standards team, said: “People may think illegal tobacco dealers are providing a service, helping people to pay less for their cigarettes.

“The sad truth is that the only people who benefit are those doing the selling.

“Tobacco kills half of its long term users and the sale of illegal tobacco creates the knock on effect of criminal activity in local communities.

“If the cigarettes and tobacco destroyed today had been sold at normal retail prices, the illegal haul would amount to in excess of £75,000 in value.”

Chris Hockaday, senior fire safety officer for CDDFRS said that cheaply produced cigarettes also posed a higher threat of accidental fire than legal ones.

This is because legal cigarettes contain fire retardant properties, so if they are dropped on a sofa for example, they have a high chance of self-extinguishing.

He said that cheap illegal cigarettes do not do this, and they may also contain chemicals that are very harmful to users.