A SHOP boss has been banned from selling tobacco products for six months after he was caught stashing away thousands of cigarettes on which no duty had been paid.

Burnley Magistrates heard how trading standards officers found 5,600 brand name cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco at Qamar Zaman's off-licence on Whalley Road, Padiham.

None bore the fiscal marks to show duty had been paid and the authorities had been cheated out of revenue worth £2,108.

Zaman, 26, who is now running a grocer's, had a previous conviction for selling counterfeit cigarettes.

The defendant, of Whalley Road, admitted suffering premises to be used for the sale of unmarked goods between July and August last year.

He also pleaded guilty to using an uninsured vehicle, fraudulently using a licence and two counts of committing further offence during a conditional discharge.

He was given a community order with 100 hours unpaid work, eight points on his licence, and was banned for a year.

The bench allowed the conditional discharge to continue. Zaman must also pay £2,108.50 compensation and £250 costs.

The bench ordered him not to sell any tobacco products from any business he owned.

Simon Perkins, prosecuting for HM Customs and Excise, told the court that a customer had tipped off authorities after buying a packet of cigarettes with what appeared to be Polish writing on them.

He said when Zaman's off-licence was searched, officers also found the empty outers for 6,000 cigarettes, none bearing fiscal marks.

Zaman was arrested and taken to Burnley police station. When he was questioned under caution he said he had bought the cigarettes from someone he could not identify and had been selling them for five weeks.

Mr Perkins said the defendant made no comment when certain points of detail were explored, such as how much he paid for them.

The prosecutor said Zaman had earlier been given a conditional discharge for selling cigarettes with a false trademark.