REGARDING your article (LET, July 22) concerning the need to deal with the 'cloning' or manufacturing of fake designer clothing, and the effect cutbacks will have when unitary authority status comes in next year.

It surely misses some relevant points concerning how the 'cloning' industry can be more effectively fought within a multi-agency approach.

All material purchased must have VAT paid on the purchase price, and all subsequent cutting, stonewashing, sewing, marketing and sale of the finished product should be monitored and checked by VAT investigation officers.

Some of this information must surely be of use in identifying high-value added returns which would not be projected within particular areas of the 'rag trade' or garment manufacturing industry.

Alternatively, the trading standards officers must often identify areas where VAT has obviously been bypassed. As Blackburn appears to have a large and thriving 'black economy,' with many vans delivering pre-cut and part-finished garments to outworkers for home manufacture, surely the Benefits Agency must be investigating potential benefit fraud by families not declaring income from homeworking when benefits are being claimed for dependants.

Some of this information could be fed back to Trading Standards, thus reducing potential investigative workload.

These are just a few ideas on to how a multi-agency approach could more effectively use the resources available without taking a defeatist attitude towards manning levels.

Are the above ideas and more already being carried out, or am I being naive even considering that this type of approach could ever happen other than on a few rare occasions?

J CRAMSIE (MR), Saint Marks Road, Blackburn.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.