Islington Council today (MON13FEB06) launches a new drive to crack down on the sale of illegal cigarettes on Holloway Road in North London.
The four week long advertising and enforcement campaign is being run in partnership with Islington Primary Care Trust, HM Revenue and Customs and the Metropolitan police and will focus buyers' attention on the connection between counterfeit cigarettes and organised crime.
Most of the tobacco products being sold along the Holloway Road are brought to this country from abroad by organised criminal gangs and sold through illegal street traders.
All the cigarettes being sold in the area are fake and contain increased levels of toxins in comparison to non-counterfeit cigarettes.
The sellers’ anti-social behaviour as they go about their illegal - but lucrative - trade is also a major problem and has included threatening traders, residents and children and the aggressive selling to and jostling of pedestrians.
Councillor Steve Hitchins, leader of Islington Council, said: ‘The presence of the illegal cigarette sellers has been a problem for the past eight and a half years. The trade continues to have a detrimental impact on the area with legitimate street traders, residents and visitors being intimidated by the sellers of cheap cigarettes. We’re determined to stop the sale of illegal cigarettes at the Nag’s Head and an essential part of this is letting buyers know how every single – but illegal – purchase impacts on the wider Holloway area.’
Islington’s Superintendent Mark Terry added: 'This campaign will mark the start of a concerted effort to deal with this issue. The police, the PCT, the local authority and other partners are committed to ridding the streets of these illegal traders and to remove the harmful presence they create. Buying illegal cigarettes exacerbates the situation and provides an unwelcome market for this illegality. Not only are customers harming themselves, they are harming the economy of the Nags Head area and encouraging funds to be siphoned off for organised crime. The message is simple. Don’t buy them.’
According to John Whyte, Head of Revenue and Customs: ‘We have officers dedicated to tackling the problem of counterfeit and smuggled cigarettes in towns and cities across the UK and although we have had a lot of success in the Islington area we will continue to bear down on those determined to dupe the public for profit.’
Paula Kahn Chair of Islington PCT added: 'The NHS must consider the wider health implications of illegal cigarette sales on the people of Islington. Islington has a high smoking rate and many people die from smoking related illnesses. We also know that 70% of smokers want to quit. The availability of cheap cigarettes being sold at the Nags head on Holloway Road means that smokers who want to quit find it harder. These counterfeit cigarettes are also more easily accessible to children and young people.’
The campaign is part of Islington’s A1 Borough Project which aims to transform the environment on and around the A1 street from Goswell Road to Archway making it safer, cleaner, greener and more accessible.
Ends
Page Last Updated: 29 July 2008