A GROCER was found to have a £16,000 haul of illicit tobacco products without health warnings at his Whitewell Bottom home, a court was told.

Burnley magistrates heard how Stephen Fossey,44, had over 200 packets of Jin Ling cigarettes amongst the stash.

The cigarettes, which would sell at about half the price of genuine ones, were said to be produced in Eastern Europe especially for the black market and there were 'absolutely no controls' over what went into making them or the levels of harmful substances they may contain.

Fossey claimed he was going to give all the illegal smokes and tobacco to his son as payment for building work on a collapsed wall at his home.

The hearing was told Fossey had also been discovered with illicit tobacco products in a black bin liner in his mobile grocery store and with fake hand-rolling tobacco at his home.

He would say he paid £500 cash for the large find at his house and had bought them from a van on a lay-by on Rossendale Road in Burnley.

The defendant, of Foxhill Drive, admitted two counts of failing to comply with requirements of regulations when supplying a tobacco product, on March 29, and one allegation of possessing goods with a false trade mark on May 30. His case was adjourned until November 13, for a pre-sentence report.

Nicholas McNamara, prosecuting for Trading Standards, said on March 29, officers executed an entry warrant at a house on Rosehill Road, Burnley. It wasn't the defendant's home, but was thought to be associated with the supply of illicit tobacco products.

A blue van, apparently a mobile grocery store belonging to Fossey was parked outside the property. Officers found 60 packets of Jin Ling inside, each containing 20 cigarettes and eight, 50-gram pouches of Virginia hand-rolling tobacco.

The prosecutor said officers discovered a considerable haul of illicit products, piled up in boxes, at his home. Fossey had 305 packets, of cigarettes, including 210 of Jin Ling and also 885 pouches of Virginia hand-rolling tobacco.

Mr McNamara added two months later, officers went back to the defendant's home and found four pouches of counterfeit Amber Leaf hand- rolling tobacco.

David Leach, for Fossey, said he accepted he possessed the illicit products intending to supply, but he was going to pass them to a close relative.

Bench chairman Anthony Green told Fossey the aggravating features of the case were the large quantities involved and an element of financial gain.