Fake Apple products have been seized from four premises in Barrow.
Following a tip-off from members of the public, four business premises in Barrow were visited by Cumbria Trading Standards, joined by representatives from the Apple Brand Holder.
A variety of counterfeit Apple merchandise was seized under Trade Marks Copyright, Design and Patents legislation, with an estimated value of up to £5,000. The goods included watch straps, batteries, chargers and power cables, and were voluntarily surrendered to Cumbria Trading Standards by the business owners at all premises. The items will be destroyed.
Cumbria County Council’s Trading Standards Service says it will continue to take action against those selling such items.
Councillor Celia Tibble, Cabinet Member for Trading Standards, said: “These are serious criminal offences. When these counterfeit products are sold, at considerably below the price of the legal product, a message needs to be sent that we will not tolerate this behaviour and will continue to take firm action to stop this type of activity by using our enforcement powers against those we catch.
“Our officers routinely act on intelligence we receive, as they did in this case, so I would encourage consumers to continue to report those involved in selling counterfeit products because their valuable information can significantly aid our investigations.”
Colin Cox, Director of Public Health at Cumbria County Council, added: “Young people are particularly at risk from the sale of counterfeit products. I would encourage anyone with information about counterfeit products to report them to Trading Standards on 0808 223 1133.”
Gareth Mogg, Director at WRi Group said: ‘The sale of counterfeit and potentially dangerous electronic products, such as those seized by Cumbria Trading Standards, places consumers at risk and seriously undermines legitimate traders. We are extremely grateful to Trading Standards for taking this action on behalf of our clients.”
