From: The Chesterfield Post
Several town centre shop owners have publicly thanked MP Toby Perkins for his help in closing down a shop selling counterfeit cigarettes on Cavendish Street.
As reported in The Chesterfield Post HERE, officers from Derbyshire Police, Trading Standards and the UK Border Agency, raided ‘Bzee’ and the flat above the shop, for the third time on 20th June – recovering over 100,000 cigarettes and 100 pouches of tobacco, labelled by officers as a mix of ‘smuggled and counterfeit’.
This had prompted complaints from local businesses, with local councillor Ellie Wilcox, Cabinet Member for Health and Communities (left) admitting that, “Local, legitimate traders were being hit in the pocket through lost sales due to these illegal activities.”
Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins had been involved after hearing of the problem and the effect it was having on local businesses and the possible effect on the health of people purchasing these often toxic cigarettes.
After facilitating a face-to-face meeting with relevant agencies, which led to the quick action and raid, he met with several local business owners last Friday and reassured them that he would continue to do everything he could to make sure that no more of these businesses took hold in Chesterfield.
Talking to The Chesterfield Post, Toby said, “A number of retailers and the police had come to see them to let them know that there was a store that was selling counterfeit products. Not only were they very cheap, with obviously no duty paid, but on inspection, not a legitimate product, which contained animal faeces, tea and other things which shouldn’t be in cigarettes.”
Listen to the Interview with Toby in full here…
He added, “We were very concerned about the lack of care that was being taken over the safety issues and the fact that legitimate traders were losing business to someone who was breaking the laws.
“We recognise that cigarettes are very expensive and that there are tax implications to counter the fact that there are health inconsequence from people smoking them – and I guess that has proved a challenge for the retailers who are still trying to run a legal business – and for them to undercut that by both avoiding tax and selling dangerous products is totally unacceptable.”
He said that action had been swift once all parties had been made aware, “We managed to get the Police, Trading Standards and the landlord of the shop (above) in a room together and the landlords recognised very quickly that they had a responsibility to take action.
“We went to court very quickly on Monday to get permission to do the raid – and also for a raid on the domestic property that was let to the same people above the shop – and on the wednesday, the raid took place – and a happy ending.”
After concerns had been raised that the shop would simply open elsewhere, Toby had this advice to anyone concerned about businesses selling this type of product, “Get in touch with us, but there is a real responsibilty on landlords to expect more of people who run their shops than simply that they pay their rent, and they should think very carefully before they let anyone rent their properties. The landlord in this case has had a considerable bill.
“If this type of business makes a return to Chesterfield, then we will make sure we take action very quickly to deal with it.”
One shop owner who was relieved that this had been dealt with was John May from the Sweet Stop on Elder Way who said his concerns had been over the effect this shop was having on the town centre and local kids, “It was attracting a lot of undesirables and they were blatantly selling to underage kids – and not bothered! It was set up next to a pub.
“I am so relieved that it has been taken out of action. It has been going on since Christmas and it was only when we contacted our local MP Toby Perkins, that they took action and it was shut down within a fortnight! So a big thank you to Toby – he’s done a brilliant job!”
Sarmod Mahood, from Spire News told us they too had concerns, “It affected my weekly takings by a huge amount, but it wasn’t just a concern that we were losing business, it was the effect it was having on the town centre. There were kids going there that we believed were all underage, so it was beyond a joke. It’s the third time he’s been raided, so it was a great relief.”
