TWO employees at a Lydney off-licence have pleaded guilty to selling illegal tobacco.

Khalid Hamanin, 27, at Quick Stop, in Forest Road, has been ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community service and pay a £400 fine, while 31-year-old Aram Ahmed must pay a fine totalling £370. 

Three separate shops across the county were targeted by the Gloucestershire County Council trading standards team and have now received sentences for selling more than 2,000 packets of illegal cigarettes and rolling tobacco, between them.

Cllr Will Windsor-Clive, (Con, Newent) the council’s Cabinet member for trading standards, said: “This is another successful investigation into an illegal industry that damages reputable businesses in the county.

“Counterfeit tobacco products can put people’s health at greater risk and this type of activity will not be tolerated in Gloucestershire.”

The shop owners were unavailable for comment.