Illegal tobacco sales to be stubbed out

A new crackdown is set to be launched on the tobacco black market in Hull.
Officials admit they don't know the full extent of illegal tobacco sales in the city.
But they believe Hull far outstrips national estimates that 13 per cent of all cigarettes smoked in the UK are illicit.
The new crackdown follows a decision by the Department of Health to award Hull £200,000 to develop initiatives to reduce smoking.
The city was one of 24 areas across the country to receive funding after being identified as having one of the highest smoking rates per head of population.
The initiative is set to include:
* Increased activity by Revenue and Customers investigators involving raids and seizures.
* More prosecutions for retailers caught selling tobacco to under-age youngsters.
* New educational campaigns aimed at reducing the appeal of smoking among young people.
Trevor Parkin, health policy co-ordinator at Hull City Council, said: "There is a degree of intelligence which has been given to Revenue and Customs and over the next few months there will be more visits and seizures.
"However, there is a lot more going on out there than we actually know about. The intelligence is not as good as it could be."
Mr Parkin said recent evidence-gathering included just over 100 test purchases carried out by trading standards officials investigating the underage sale of tobacco in Hull.
They found that one in three retails sold tobacco without asking for proof of age.
"This is the highest percentage failure rate in Yorkshire and the Humber and almost twice the national average," he added.
Mr Parkin also revealed officials had carried out a survey of discarded cigarette packets at Hull Fair in an attempt to find out the extent counterfeit and smuggled tobacco in the city.
"It was one method of trying to establish a picture of what is going on and more surveys will be carried out," he said.
The crackdown will also see the appointment of the city's first full-time tobacco control officer who will be based in the council's trading standards section.
The new post is expected to be advertised in the next few weeks.
Councillors on the city's health scrutiny commission heard eastern European-owned shops would also be targeted in the new crackdown because some were believed to be a source of cheap , illegally-sourced imported cigarettes
They were also told that educational programmes in schools appeared to be paying off with a recent survey suggesting a significant reduction in the number of young smokers in all age groups since similar research was carried out in 2002.
Councillor Mark Collinson said he believed enforcement would be difficult without greater checks at entry points such as ports.
"I seriously wonder how we are going to stop people bringing back cheap cigarettes from their holidays to sell to their mates."