January sales shoppers are being warned to be on their guard over a massive increase in the number of counterfeit clothes being smuggled into Britain.

Customs authorities in Dover, Kent, say they are seizing more fake goods as cheap clothing, counterfeit labels and pirated CDs pour into the country, costing the UK an estimated �3bn in lost revenue.

They add that fake clothing is virtually impossible to detect as it passes through Britain's busiest port.

Trading Standards officers are also warning that consumers will find it difficult to tell the fake from the real thing.

Pirate CDs

While some pirated CDs can be identified by simple spelling mistakes, designer labels, including fashion brands Fila, Levi and Tommy Hilfiger, can easily slip through the net.

The labels, made in eastern Europe for a few pence, are brought to Britain to be sewn into sub-standard clothing.

Each label can be sold for up to �10, creating a lucrative business for the counterfeiters and smugglers.

Nigel Knott of Dover Customs said the nature of the goods made them difficult to detect.

"We can't use technical aids to detect these things. Sniffer dogs do not sniff out labels," he said.

"The value of the goods is high from a counterfeiters point of view, the volume they take up is quite low.

"The other advantage is they can be that they can be hidden in legitimate loads.

"They will not send over a complete lorry-load of these things they will send over a groupage load which could be 1,000 or 1,500 boxes in a trailer and it may be only five we have to identify."

David Scott of Kent Trading Standards said the differences between legitimate designer goods and the counterfeits were often hard to detect.

"I would say it is very difficult to tell the difference. The labels are very very similar. The presentation very, very similar.

"The best guide I can offer is if you buy cheap designer products from the bottom end of the market place; from boot sales, from street traders - perhaps in the pub - then you're likely to be buying counterfeit goods."