Counterfeit clothing worth £50k donated to charity

HUNDREDS of items of counterfeit clothing, worth around £50,000, have been donated to a Christian charity for the homeless after being seized by Trading Standards officers in Aberdeenshire.

The cheap black market clothing was seized by Trading Standards from local shops, market stalls and internet traders trying to pass them off as the genuine article to unsuspecting buyers..

Aberdeenshire Council has now donated the items to HIS Church, a registered charity, who will remove the “offending” names and logos and rebrand each item.

A council spokesman said: “The clothing will then be distributed to homeless charities to help some of the most vulnerable people across Scotland and throughout the UK.”

Kevin Potter, the authority’s Principal Trading Standards Officer, said: “In protecting local consumers and legitimate businesses we have removed significant quantities of counterfeit clothing from the supply chain.

“I’m extremely pleased to now see those seized goods disposed of at no cost to the council and be put to such a positive use by helping vulnerable people.”

Councillor Peter Argyle, chairman of Aberdeenshire Council’s Infrastructure Services Committee, praised the initiative. He said: “I’m pleased the Trading Standards team is working so hard to prevent counterfeit products from being sold in Aberdeenshire.

“This is not a victimless crime in that consumers are being sold poor quality copies and we do not want our legitimate local economy being undermined by black market products. For these illegal items of clothing to now be recycled and donated to the most needy in our society is a great outcome.”