Oct 21 2010 by Eleanor Barlow, Flintshire Chronicle
Trading Standards seize counterfeit goods from Coed Mawr Market, Greenfield
A JOINT operation between police and Trading Standards saw 250 counterfeit items seized from Coed Mawr Market, Greenfield.
Five Trading Standards officers, along with police officers, took part in a covert operation at the popular market on Sunday.
They seized items including clothes, shoes and handbags.
Richard Powell, head of Flintshire Trading Standards, said: “If these items were genuine they would have a combined value of about £10,000, which gives us an idea of the loss to traders caused by the counterfeit goods.
“The items were being sold for much less than genuine items would be, for example a pair of shorts which would cost about £100 if real were being sold for £15.”
The items seized were from three different stalls and the stallholders were all issued with written warnings.
Mr Powell said: “If we catch any of those gentlemen selling counterfeit goods in Flintshire again we will deal with them.”
He said people should look out for branded goods being sold at low prices.
“If it looks too good to be true it probably is,” he added.
“We found brands such as Nike, Adidas and Ugg being sold at really low prices, which is a big giveaway.
“You can also tell by the quality of the clothing. These will be cheaply produced and low quality.”
Mr Powell said officers kept tabs on items sold at markets in Flintshire but also relied heavily on information from the public.
He added: “People may think buying counterfeit goods isn’t harming anyone, but this is damaging shops which sell genuine clothing and have to pay a certain price for it.
“Selling counterfeit goods can affect the local and national economy.”