COUNTERFEIT cigarettes flooding into Lancashire are putting smokers at even bigger health risks, and helping children become hooked, experts said.

Trading Standards officers in Lancashire have seized almost 1,000 packets of fake cigarettes and tobacco in the last year, but say this is only the tip of the iceberg.

Jim Potts, of Lancashire Trading Standards, said up to 70 per cent of the illegal tobacco now seized was not just the standard product with no duty paid, but counterfeit items containing cancer-causing heavy metals and higher-than-regulation levels of tar and nicotine.

Some contained shredded newspapers and wood.

Now, NHS East Lancashire is joining the fight against the counterfeiters, as part of its Save a Million Years of Life campaign to improve average life expectancy.

Peter Pendlebury, a health development specialist at the primary care trust, said: “A large majority of the counterfeit tobacco that enters this county ends up being sold to the most deprived people living within East Lancashire’s communities.

“This, and smuggled duty-free tobacco, undermines the motivation that high cigarette prices have on encouraging people to stop and stay stopped.

“Organised crime and petty criminals are the biggest winners - criminal gangs are moving away from other illegal activities such as drugs to this new and arguably more acceptable activity, and cheap counterfeit tobacco is a huge enticement to the young people within East Lancashire.

"It’s easy availability could be a contributing reason why we are still seeing large numbers of young smokers.”

Both experts encouraged anyone who suspects illegal tobacco is being sold to contact Trading Standards.

Mr Potts said: “Unlike other counterfeit items like clothes or toys, tobacco products are usually sold under-the-counter, with customers finding out by word of mouth that it is available, so what we know about is clearly just the tip of the iceberg.

“Not only are buyers financing criminal gangs, but they need to know that all the effort goes into recreating the packaging and distinctive filter tip styles, and these people really don’t care what’s inside.”

To report suspected sale of illegal tobacco, call Consumer Direct, the national Trading Standards service, on 0845 040506.