A major operation saw 54,000 illicit cigarettes and more than 78.5KG of illegal hand rolling tobacco worth more than £21,000 taken off the streets of Kirklees.

If genuine, the value of the cigarettes seized would be over £27,000 and the hand rolling tobacco more than £31,000, bringing the total value of the goods seized to be in excess of £58,500.

David Lodge, head of West Yorkshire Trading Standards, said: “All tobacco is harmful, but the supply of illegal cigarettes seriously undermines the drive to reduce smoking, fuels organised criminality and is often a gateway for young people to becoming addicted to a habit which prematurely kills over half its users.”

The operation was part of a wider scheme called Tackling Illicit Tobacco for Better Health Programme, which is funded by the five Public Health authorities in West Yorkshire. The programme, which is in its third year, utilises marketing campaigns and multi-agency enforcement to tackle the problems of the illicit trade.

To date the programme has taken more than 1.5 million illegal cigarettes and over 600kg of illegal hand rolling tobacco off the streets with even more inspections planned in West Yorkshire over the coming weeks these figures are likely to increase.

Clr Andrew Pinnock from the West Yorkshire Trading Standards Committee said: “The illegal sale of tobacco in communities enables and encourages young children to buy it cheaply. It is really great that so many partners are working to tackle traders who break the law. I would like to thank members of the public for reporting illegal sales and encourage everyone to continue doing so to reduce the harm caused by tobacco in our communities.”

Anyone with information about illicit cigarettes should phone the Tobacco Hotline on 0300 999 0000.