THE future of corner shop workers in East Lancashire is under threat because of the booming tobacco smuggling business.

A survey carried out by the Tobacco Alliance revealed 77 per cent of North West retailers questioned are 'very concerned' about the effects of smuggling on their business. A third said they had personally seen smuggled tobacco being sold, with more than half saying bootlegging was having a knock-on effect.

The Alliance now says up to 1,000 jobs could be lost, most of them through corner shops.

Spokesman Paul Mason, said: "The situation is worse than we feared and is clearly getting worse every year. "The scale of tobacco smuggling and its effect on sales is a real threat to livelihoods, especially for small corner shops, many of whom depend on tobacco for almost a third of their turnover.

"Almost one in three of the retailers who took part in our research said they would consider cutting staff because of the drop in their sales due to tobacco smuggling.

"What's more, 1,000 jobs could be just the tip of the iceberg if the other 67,000 independent retailers of tobacco in the UK are affected in the same way."

The group is now urging Chancellor Kenneth Clarke to take action by freezing tobacco tax in the November budget.

It blames the wide price differential between the UK and the rest of Europe for the incentive to smuggle.

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