TWO men involved in a £1m black market racket selling counterfeit DVDs and CDs have been ordered to pay back £50,000 each.

At a confiscation hearing, at Teesside Crown Court yesterday, Paul Canning and Mark Bailey were told they would serve an extra 12 months if they failed to pay back their profits.

In April, 32-year-old Canning, of Houghton-le-Spring, Wearside, and Bailey, 26, of Gateshead, South Tyneside, were each jailed for three and a half years after admitting their part in the scam.

They sold the goods at car boot sales across County Durham but were caught after a two-year undercover police investigation, operated by Durham and Northumbria police.

The scam is thought to have cost the recording industry about £8m.

Andrew Walker, prosecuting, said it was believed the total amount that went to the gang was £1.5m, but prosecuters were prepared to accept a confiscation order of £50,000 against the defendants.

Judge George Moorhouse, ordered the destruction of 345 exhibits taken as part of the police investigation, which included computers and machines used to make counterfeit CDs and DVDs.

At yesterday's hearing, the case against Canning's girlfriend, Julie Parkin, of Ash Crescent, Seaham, County Durham, was dropped after the court heard she had not directly benefitted from the scam.

The case against Gillian Harrison, who lived with Bailey, was also dropped for the same reason.

Timothy Strangeway, 34, of Hull, will be sentenced on October 3 for his part in the racket.