A PIRATE computer game and DVD operation in Bolton has been smashed by Trading Standards officers.

More than 1,000 discs, along with a computer and a duplicator were seized when Trading Officers swooped on a council owned terraced house in Breightmet.

Half of the haul contained fake Playstation 2 games, including the most recent Lara Croft: Tomb Raider game. The rest was made up of a mixture of counterfeit films and music CDs, including many up-to-date titles yet to be officially released.

It is believed the fakes were being sold from the house.

A 31-year-old man was arrested and then released following questioning. Trading Standards is preparing to bring charges under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act and the Trade Marks Act.

Glen Phoenix, Bolton Trading Standards officer, said: "This was an important discovery that came from information supplied to us by Crimestoppers.

"Sometimes it seems like this is a victimless crime, but buying fake goods costs us all in the long run. Counterfeiting operations take money out of the economy and are also frequently linked to organised crime."

Four Trading Standards officers, two police officers and two officers from the Department of Work and Pensions took part in the raid on Friday morning at around 10am.

The 31-year-man will also be questioned relating to claims he is making for incapacity benefit.

Last week Trading Standards officers swooped on a house in Kearsley, arresting a 30-year-old man who was using eBay to sell counterfeit Microsoft Xbox 360 games that the company had said could never be copied.

More than 500 discs were seized, along with a computer and other equipment. The genuine games cost around £40 each in the shops, but the fake ones were being sold for as little as £5 each.

Last month, the Bolton Evening News revealed that another fake CD operation in Bolton is estimated to have cost the music industry nearly £900,000.

Trading Standards officers discovered about 1,000 CDs on sale on an auction website, with each CD containing between 60 and 120 albums. Individual albums normally retail at about £10.