PART of East Lancashire has been selected to spearhead the fight against fake goods which robbed the North West economy and cost 1,000 jobs last year alone.

The anti-counterfeiting campaign has been initiated by police Crimestoppers and the Sports Industry Federation, focusing on fake sportswear and clothing which is damaging legitimate manufacturing and retail business in the Burnley area.

The campaign will encourage the public and legitimate businesses to blow the whistle on counterfeit conmen.

The town's anti-counterfeiting week will include the launch on Wednesday of a hard-hitting publicity billboard poster outside Burnley Football Club. The poster will highlight the link between counterfeiting and other forms of serious crime, such as drug dealing.

Burnley FC is throwing its weight behind the campaign and club media manager Danny Reubin will be joining the poster launch.

Burnley shoppers will be able to test out their fake-spotting skills on Friday when Burnley Trading Standards unit brings its "Spot-the-Fake" stand to the town centre.

People will have the chance to examine all sorts of fake and genuine goods with the chance of winning prizes if they correctly identify which is which. Throughout the week, the organisers will be distributing information leaflets and reminders of the Crimestoppers freephone number across Burnley, through retailers, leisure centres and other key locations in and around the town.

Burnley's efforts tie in with wider efforts across the North West to stamp out counterfeiting .

In 1998, Lancashire Trading Standards seized 2,000 pairs of fake jeans and 400,000 fake rivets and buttons from a factory in Great Harwood. The goods had a street value of £2.6million.

A Trading Standards raid at an Accrington sock factory resulted in the seizure of 43,000 pairs of fake sports socks with a street value of nearly £250,000.

The new campaign's message is simple: fake goods create real problems including crime, unemployment and lost business opportunities.

Information received by Crimestoppers is passed to police or Trading Standards to act on. All callers are given absolute anonymity and may recieve a reward.

Crimestoppers are on Freephone 0800 555111.