Nearly 50,000 illegal cigarettes and 50kg of illegal tobacco have been seized in the past two years as part of a trading standards operation on counterfeit goods, Powys County Council says.

The announcement by the local authority came after a Newtown man was sentenced to a 12-month community order for selling counterfeit tobacco which had 'excessive' levels of harmful metal cadmium.

At Llandrindod Wells Magistrates Court on Wednesday, November 7, 28-year-old Matthew Rawsthorne pleaded guilty to two offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994 and four offences under the Tobacco related Product Regulations 2016 – two for not proving the adequate health warnings and two for the wording not being in English as required by the regulations.

As well as the community order he was ordered to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work and ordered to pay full costs of £4,670 and an £85 victim surcharge.

Clive Jones, the council’s Professional Lead for Trading Standards, Community safety and Emergency Planning said the prosecution was part of an ongoing operation on counterfeit goods.

"Over the past two years we have seized nearly 50,000 illegal cigarettes and 50kg of illegal tobacco as part of our overarching operation on illicit products, named Operation Date," he said.

"The supply of illegal tobacco bypasses government tobacco control measures, such as not selling tobacco to children and availability is increasing. This makes it more likely that youngsters will start smoking and we find that counterfeit products often contain high levels of heavy metals such as cadmium.

"Our surveillance on illegal activity involving counterfeit products of any variety is increasing and we ask users of auction sites or any person offered suspected counterfeit goods to be vigilant and to warn us of any suspicious sellers through our contact points."

According to tobacco control campaign group ASH, illegal tobacco makes up 15% of tobacco sales in Wales and 45% of smokers in Wales have been offered illegal tobacco products.

The average price of a pack of 20 illegal cigarettes is just £4.

Suzanne Cass, Chief Executive Officer of the organisation said she 'applauded the efforts of all those involved' in the prosecution and hoped this sent a message to others that this activity will not be tolerated.

"Criminals sell illegal tobacco at pocket money prices to those who would not otherwise be able to afford it, disregarding all tobacco control measures," she said.

"It represents a major threat to the health of the nation greatly increasing the numbers of those at risk of developing smoking related conditions, which currently contribute to 5,388 deaths and 26,489 hospital admissions a year in Wales.

"It is a crime that threatens lives across Wales and resources must be directed towards helping to stamp it out."