AROUND £12,000 worth of illicit tobacco has been found at two stops.

Trading standards officers from Lancashire County Council, with the help of a sniffer dog uncovered the tobacco at shops in Burnley and Preston.

The cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco were found behind a manhole cover in the back yard of the Burnley shop and above a flat in the Preston shop.

The items were a mixture of counterfeit and non-duty paid tobacco, all in banned colourful child-appealing packaging, and most bearing foreign health warnings.

The dog, from Wagtail UK ltd, which provides detection dogs for government agencies, was brought in after officers had been unable to find stashes during previous inspections, despite both shops having sold illicit tobacco during test purchasing operations.

Paul Noone, head of the council's trading standards service, said: "The number of cases we are dealing with demonstrates the value of the illegal trade in tobacco, with some unscrupulous retailers clearly being reluctant to comply with the law on tobacco sales.

"Cheap illicit tobacco is readily available to young people and encourages them to smoke.

"The sale and manufacture of illegal tobacco has a serious impact on legitimate businesses, and our communities, and is something we're determined to tackle."

This result is the latest of a number of seizures and prosecutions by trading standards in recent months.

Around 200,000 illicit cigarettes and around 40kg tobacco were taken from Lancashire traders in 50 separate seizures in the last 12 months, resulting in 17 criminal convictions.

People are advised to report all illicit tobacco sales and intelligence to the citizens advice consumer helpline on 03454 040506.