Thousands of illegal cigarettes were recovered from a food shop in Brookend Street, Ross-on-Wye on Saturday, January 5th.

Officers from Herefordshire Council’s Trading Standards and West Mercia Police worked in partnership to carry out planned action at the Europe Quality Food store.

Trading Standards found and seized approximately 31,000 illegal foreign non UK-duty and counterfeit cigarettes and two men were arrested at the scene.

A spokesperson for Trading Standards told the Ross Gazette that the raid at Europe Quality Food in Ross followed on from raids carried out in Hereford on December 16th, 2018.

A Multi Agency Targeted Enforcement Strategy (MATES) operation carried out a raid on Supersam (Eign Street, Hereford) and Maxii Mini Market (Commercial Road, Hereford) and seized 50,000 illegal cigarettes from the two premises along with a substantial amount of illegal hand rolling tobacco.

The overall seizure from the three shops amounts to £32,000 of tobacco duty evasion.

Investigations are ongoing.