LANCASHIRE County Council Trading Standards Officers are mounting an anti-counterfeiting campaign on the run-up to Christmas in support of a national initiative launched recently by Consumer Minister Melanie Johnson.

In their latest activities teams of officers are visiting Sunday Markets and have seized suspected counterfeit goods, including the latest titles in videos, computer games and music releases.

Prominent among the titles were the new Harry Potter film both in video and DVD format, and various chart CDs, including Robbie Williams, Blue, Steps and Russell Watson. One trader had goods with a street value of around £5,000 seized.

Offenders face possible prosecution and penalties for Trade Marks Act offences include a maximum 10-years custodial sentence.

A recent UK Threat Assessment of Serious and Organised Crime by the National Criminal Intelligence Service (NCIS) highlighted the links between Intellectual Property theft (counterfeiting) and serious crime, particularly drug trafficking and immigration crime.

The report found more than 60 per cent of organised crime groups reported to be involved in counterfeiting were also involved in drug trafficking while 25 per cent of the groups involved in immigration crime were involved in counterfeiting.

This not only involved fake documents, but also many immigrants were used as sweatshop labour to produce counterfeit goods.

County Councillor Tim Ormrod, Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Rural Affairs said: "Harry Potter has not been released on video and yet the counterfeits are already out, inducing consumers to buy them as Christmas presents."