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Dodgy discs found during fair raid
The boss of a Wigan computer fair has told of his shock after it was raided by police and trading standards officers who seized thousands of pirate CDs and DVDs.
Ian Pitts said rogue traders infiltrating the legitimate ones did no-one any favours and he didn't want them jeopardising the good reputation of the event or his organisation.
The boss of St Helens-based Advance Computer Fairs today pledged a security crackdown at future events as trading standards put on display the counterfeit booty seized from the Robin Park Sports Centre a week last Wednesday.
Department chief Julie Middlehurst said: "We had had a number of inquiries from members of the public and also legitimate traders at the fairs who were concerned at what was going on sale. The legitimate traders were being really disadvantaged by those people selling illegal copies at drastically reduced prices – they just couldn't compete.
"It is something of a coup to make such a seizure. These rogue traders can be packed up and gone very quickly if there is a sniff of police or trading standards and they often have look-outs."
The raid team confiscated thousands of counterfeit CDs and DVDs containing computer software and movies, including the current blockbuster I am Legend which is still on at the cinema and not yet officially released on DVD in this country.
In addition an illegal games console chipping device and computer chips were seized. These are used for bypassing security measures put into computer games so they can't be played when illegally copied.
Two men were arrested on suspicion of chipping and selling counterfeit goods. They were taken to Wigan police station for questioning and have since been bailed pending further inquiries.
A house in Leyland was subsequently searched and more discs were seized by trading standards.
Julie added: "This operation shows that we will not tolerate anyone selling counterfeit goods in Wigan, and will take the appropriate action.
"We'd like to thank Robin Park Sports Centre for its co-operation. It has enabled us to remove any illegal activity from what is an otherwise thoroughly honest and well-respected event."
Mr Pitts said: "I was shocked to learn of the raid. We have been in Wigan for 10 years and have never had trouble like this before.
"Sadly this kind of illegal practice is going on all over the place and it is difficult to monitor comprehensively. But pirate CDs and DVDs do no-one any good and we are determined to stamp it out.
"We will keep a closer eye and have people walking round the event looking for anything suspicious. We don't want our great relationship with Wigan spoiling and we would welcome trading standards back to check again in future."
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Weather for Wigan
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 10 C to 23 C
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