Some of the fake designer goods from the latest swoop by trading standards

A HAUL of fake designer hats has been seized by the city council’s trading standards teams following another West End raid.

The rip-offs claimed to be from famous fashion labels including North Face, Stone Island, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Canada Goose and Miu Miu.

The swoop also saw officers impound illegal cigarettes, cannabis-laced vapes and gummy sweets.

There were also 241 travel plug adapters and mobile phone charging cables and accessories taken away to be destroyed.

Westminster City Council said it had taken £300,000 of fake goods off the streets in a year.

Cllr Caroline Sargent, the new cabinet member for enforcement, said: “Our trading standards officers are on the streets to ensure that shoppers in Westminster get what they pay for.

“Fake designer goods inevitably prove a false bargain and are usually poorly made. As the lead on enforcement I am going to ensure we go up through the gears on both the scale and rate of these operations.”

New council cabinet member for enforcement and deputy leader, Caroline Sargent, in the West End

She added: “Like many, I am tired of our streets being used by these emporiums of tat to sell knock-off goods and fakes. Collecting bin bags of vapes and fake hats is useful in disrupting unscrupulous traders and we will keep doing that.

“However, I will be working with other agencies like the Treasury to target the people at the top of the supply chain. They are the new targets”.

Home secretary Shabana Mahmood announced on Wednesday that legislation will be brought in to help authorities shut down shops by using anti-social behaviour legislation.

The planned change will double the potential closure time available to the city council.

This has been welcomed by trading standards teams as it expected that it will make it less financially viable for shop owners to sit out closures.

Cllr Sargent added: “As a local authority we seize large amounts of counterfeit goods – more than £330,000 in the last year alone – but HMRC (revenue and customs’s) involvement on issues like tax fraud or money laundering takes those efforts to another level.

“The shell companies behind candy stores and vape shops are notoriously difficult to unpick and the involvement of HMRC is hugely welcome.

“Likewise, we know these shops are sometimes staffed by people with no right to work in the UK and, again, central government takes the lead here.

“We want the West End and our high streets to be places with attractive shops and restaurants.

“We are going to be ramping up these operations in the coming months so our high streets are not overrun with tat.”