A REALITY TV star has been ordered to carry out unpaid work after admitting selling bootleg tobacco online.

Simone Reed, 29, of Reynoldston Avenue, Stockton, who was on Big Brother last year, and accomplice Kevin Buttery, 31, of Staindale Gardens, Stockton, used their social media profiles to advertise and arrange the sale of non-UK duty paid tobacco goods, an investigation by HMRC revealed.

Reed’s home and car were searched in December 2016 and 1,460 cigarettes as well as 1.1 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco were found.

The illegal goods, worth £602 in unpaid duty, were seized by HMRC and the pair were arrested. Reed and Buttery had advertised on social media and delivered to customers in Stockton.

The pair admitted excise fraud at Teesside Magistrates Court and were sentenced to 120 hours unpaid work.

Cheryl Burr, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: “This was a rookie attempt to make some quick cash at the expense of taxpayers. The black market trade in illegal tobacco steals money from our public services."