A HUGE haul of illegal tobacco and cigarettes has been netted as part of a crack down by three agencies.

Middlesbrough Council, HM Revenue and Customs and police have cracked down on retail outlets in the town, seizing more than 41,000 cigarettes and nearly 8kg of hand-rolling tobacco seized.

In one shop officers found a hidden floor hiding place with a hydraulic lift operated with a key fob, revealing the increasingly sophisticated methods used by those involved in the illegal tobacco trade.

The enforcement drive was supported by specially trained tobacco sniffer dogs and included searches at six retail outlets in the town, with illicit tobacco was discovered at five of the outlets.

The items seized breached tobacco labelling laws by not having the necessary health warnings on them and were not in standardised packaging.

Many of the products are believed to be counterfeit and will not have a safety feature that stops the cigarette from burning if not smoked.

Cigarettes without this feature have been linked to fatal house fires.

Judith Hedgley, Middlesbrough Council's Head of Public Protection, said: "The success of this operation - and the increasingly covert nature of the illicit tobacco trade - shows the need for continued targeted joint enforcement by the various enforcement agencies.

"This operation could not have been completed without the collaboration of Middlesbrough Council's Trading Standards team, the Regional Investigation Team, HMRC and Cleveland Police."

Councillor Dorothy Davison, Middlesbrough Council's member for Adult Social Care and Public Health, said: "Illicit tobacco is a scourge on our society, bringing crime into the community and negatively impacting on the health of Middlesbrough residents - particularly the young and most vulnerable.

"Middlesbrough Council will continue to do all it can to stamp out this trade."

Denis Kerr, Assistant Director, Fraud Investigation Service, HMRC, said: "The sale of illegal tobacco will not be tolerated by us or our partner agencies.

"Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £1.8 billion a year.

"This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders."

Anyone with information on premises selling illicit tobacco is asked to call the Trading Standards hotline on 01642 728223 or email EHTS@middlesbrough.gov.uk