 Many fake goods are on sale just before Christmas |
Pirate copies of a film not due for UK release until April 2004 have been seized in a raid in Hull. Trading standards officers went to Walton Street market on Sunday where they found that some traders were illegally selling the new Mike Meyers' film "The Cat in the Hat".
Thousands of other counterfeit DVDs, CDs and MP3s were also confiscated and four people were arrested.
Another raid was carried out later in East Hull where computer- operated duplicated equipment was seized.
Anti-piracy unit.
As well as trading standards, Sunday's operation involved Humberside Police and the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society (MCPS) which represents composers and music publishers.
Nick Kounoupias of the MCPS's anti-piracy unit said: "We are working on similar raids in other parts of the country as we continue to clamp down and disrupt trafficking in counterfeit products in the run-up to Christmas.
"I would urge everyone not to buy cheap, fake produce.
"No one is going to thank you for buying them something fake for Christmas."