100% of the packets tested in Holloway Road were counterfeit

Smokers travel for miles to Holloway Road in Islington to buy cheaper, and often more toxic, imported cigarettes, authorities say.

Now a four-week advertising campaign, alongside police operations, aims to cut sales and deter traders.

Every year, 270 people from the borough of Islington die because of smoking.

The campaign has been launched by Islington Council, HM Revenue and Customs, the police and Islington Primary Care Trust.

Children smoking

Most of the counterfeit tobacco products are brought into the country by organised criminal gangs and sold through illegal street traders who can earn up to �1,000 a week.

Leader of Islington Council, Councillor Steve Hitchins, said the trade had been a problem for more than eight years.

"[It] continues to have a detrimental impact on the area with legitimate street traders, residents and visitors being intimidated by the sellers of cheap cigarettes," he said.

Paula Kahn, chair of Islington Primary Care Trust, said she feared illegal sales were making it harder for smokers to quit, and making cigarettes more accessible to children and young people.