EAST Lancashire pub landlords have backed a bid by brewers and Customs and Excise to crack down on hosts buying bootlegged booze and tobacco from fly-by-night traders.

Pub operators have teamed up with customs so that licensees suspected by breweries of buying beer and drinks from bootleggers will now be monitored by customs officials.

This is the latest attempt by the Excise Alliance, formed by North West brewers and the intelligence division of Customs and Excise, to combat the growing amount of smuggled alcohol finding its way into the UK.

The North West is a major target for bootleggers and this latest crackdown is believed to be the first of its kind in the country.

Geoff Sutcliffe, landlord of the Manxman pub, Blackburn, and chairman of the local branch of the Licensed Victuallers' Association, said: "Obviously this is a way of protecting our industry, and bootleggers have been doing us a lot of harm.

"Our association wholeheartedly welcomes this scheme. Our advice to our members is never to get involved with any illicit goods, whether it be alcohol or tobacco, and we also advise people to report any bootlegging activity they know of.

"There is only one end result for licensees who get involved with bootlegging - they lose their livelihoods."

Les Harrison, landlord of the Coal Clough pub in Burnley and chairman of the Burnley branch of the Licensed Victuallers, said: "None of our members sell bootlegged goods so I can't see anybody objecting to this crackdown - we are all reputable licensees.

"Bootlegging has had a big effect on our industry, we have all felt a drop in trade."

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