A Blackburn woman caught selling counterfeit designer clothes on a market stall has been fined £500.

Eileen Ansar, aged 43, of Greenfields, Blackburn, has had stock confiscated and been ordered to pay fines and prosecution costs of nearly £1,000 after counterfeit clothing was found on a Nelson market stall.

Ansar pleaded guilty at Reedley magistrates' court to eight offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994, following an investigation by Lancashire County Council's trading standards officers.

Magistrates were told that in November 2001, more than £1,000-worth of bogus Lacoste clothing had been seized by officers during an inspection of Ansar's stall, called First Avenue Fashions and based at the Admiral Centre, Nelson. It has since been renamed the Pendle Rise Centre.

Three months later, a follow-up visit netted another 176 garments, including fake Fred Perry sweaters and Henri Lloyd jackets, together valued at £5,000.

Although Ansar had been able to produce receipts for some of the clothing, the court was told that, in two cases, her suppliers had proved untraceable.

On behalf of Ansar, the court was told that she had bought the clothing believing it was genuine, but accepted that she had not carried out sufficient checks before putting it on her stall.

The court was told that since these offences, she no longer stocks branded clothing, but the effect on takings meant that the business would now have to close down.

Imposing a fine of £500 and costs of £480, magistrates also ordered Ansar to forfeit the 214 garments seized from her stall.