The fake cigarettes are pictured (right) next to the genuine brand

Worries over fake cigarettes, which can include poisonous elements such as arsenic and lead, were given following a Conwy Trading Standards operation.

It follows a case against a 19-year-old man, who was caught selling half price cigarettes at Towyn and Prestatyn.

Llandudno magistrates heard the fakes were "positively dangerous".

Jason Sheridan, from Urmston in Manchester, was caught in a covert trading standards operation at Tir Prince market in Towyn last June.

The 19-year-old was selling fake Benson and Hedges cigarettes for half the normal price in shops.

He was later spotted selling counterfeit Golden Virginia tobacco at the same market.

Anti-social behaviour

Then in September, Sheridan was arrested at Prestatyn, again for selling suspected counterfeit cigarettes.

Prosecutor Stuart Dunn said it was a feature that the tobacco usually used in counterfeit products came from places where it was grown while not under any proper supervision.

The court heard that most counterfeit cigarettes were made in China and cancer-causing toxic metal has been discovered in them previously.

Sheridan was ordered to carry out 80 hours unpaid work and placed under a community order with 12 months supervision.

He must also pay �240 costs after he admitted selling fake products, going equipped to cheat, and failing to surrender to bail.