MORE than £72,000 was seized at a Coleford property from where a husband and wife ran an illegal tobacco business.

Gloucestershire Trading Standards were tipped off last summer that 73-year-old Harold Bennett and his wife Susan, who is 54, were selling illegal cigarettes and tobacco from their home.

In July 2015 Trading Standards, along with Gloucestershire Police and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC), entered the house with a warrant.

More than 100 kilograms of tobacco and more than 750 packs of cigarettes were discovered in the raid.

The street value of the seized tobacco and cigarettes was more than £22,000 and it is estimated more than £20,000 in tax went unpaid.

As well as the tobacco, investigators also seized more than £72,000 in cash under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

The Bennetts appeared at Gloucester Crown Court last Thursday (August 18) where they both pleaded guilty to three offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and one under the Custom and Excise Management Act 1979.

The couple will be sentenced on Tuesday, September 27 at Gloucester Crown Court and a confiscation hearing will take place on Thursday, November 17 to look at the civil recovery of the proceeds made from selling the illegal products.

Gloucestershire County Council’s Cabinet member for public health, Cllr Andrew Gravells (Con, Abbey) said: “Not only is this illegal, but it is morally wrong.

“Selling illegal tobacco can be even more harmful to your health.

“We can’t guarantee the tobacco has the appropriate health warnings and we don’t know what it contains.

“It’s a major health concern and that’s why Gloucestershire County Council’s public health and trading standards teams are working together to help stamp out the problem.”

John Cooper, assistant director at HMRC’s Fraud Investigation Service, said: “We will continue working with our partner agencies to disrupt the criminal trade in illicit tobacco which costs the UK around £2.1 billion a year.

“We encourage anyone with information about the illegal supply, sale or distribution of tobacco to contact the Customs Hotline on 0800 59 5000.”

The county council’s Cabinet member for Trading Standards, Cllr Nigel Moor (Con, Stow-on-the-Wold) added: “This is yet another example of people breaking the law and thinking they can get away with it.

“We have repeatedly warned against selling illegal products, do it and we will catch you and you will be punished.”