In an unprecendented move Asian video shop owners met with trading standards in a bid to 'clean up' the video rental trade.

Trading Standards officers have been very active in the past 12 months raiding many video shops leading to legal proceedings and convictions. The meeting held in Blackburn was vocal at times and looked at ways of educating the traders and making them aware of the implications of breaking the laws.

Stephen Duden of the Trading Standards said, "The British laws with regards to video rental and sales are very clear and concise and are the same for English as well as non-English films"

"And we are not going to tolerate the blatant abuse of the laws. All films and dramas must be original and certified by the British Board of Film Censors."

Mohammed Tariq of the BPI was at the event. His main role is to investigate piracy in the Asian video and Audio market and assist the trading standards in carrying out raids.

He said, "The BPI are totally committed to eradicating piracy within the Asian trade.

"We are working round the clock to achieve this goal. In the past year many of the country's persistant offenders have faced heavy fines or gone to jail and I'm glad that the traders of Blackburn have realised the seriousness of the situation and called for a meeting."

Traders voiced their concerns and in particular pointed out the fact that without the aid of piracy is was difficult to survive within the business.

"The legitimising of our businesses is going to be painful financially over a short term period as we are so used to getting the pirated film on the day of its cinema release and that is what our customers expect." said one trader "However it is the only way forward in the long run."

Chris Allen head of Blackburn with Darwen Trading Standards said, "The trading standards office is here to offer help and advice to everyone to create a 'fair' trading enviroment and I'm happy that this meeting has taken place."

"We have offered help and guidance on a number of issues and will now monitor the situation. Hopefully we will get the desired results. Officers will carry out spot checks in the near future and if need be enforce the law where necessary."