Counterfeit goods to over the value of £80,000 have been seized from three different stores in Armley as part of the Safer Streets campaign set up in the Summer.
The West Yorkshire Trading Standards and officers from the Leeds Anti-Social Behaviour Team are still continuing their investigation into the case
One of the shops, Tatra Sklep on Branch road, are contesting the closure with a hearing set on 1 October in the Kirklees Magistrates Court.
The other two stores, Pet Food Shop on Branch Road and Blue Sky on Town Street, have been closed to the dates of 15 December and 22 October respectively.
Source: Photo by E-Liquids UK | UnsplashThis was all part of the scheme to make the town safer and discouraging anti-social behaviour.
The raids produced a haul of over 3,000 boxes of cigarettes, alongside hundreds of pouches of tobacco, over 600 oversized vapes, some single use vapes and two bottles of stolen alcohol.
These items equated to £83,000 worth of goods, all of which were illegal and were forcibly removed from the three various stores.
In terms of the community aftermath, other off license shop owners are benefitting from the new lack of illegal goods being sold.
Wahaj Sardar, owner of the Best One off license store has said: “Because they got raided, they got closed, and the traffic came here and we got more sales. It’s not drastic but I can tell it’s been busier in here.”
When asked about the community impact, he said: “Some people (have been affected) because they used to sell cheap cigs and in my head, I was thinking ‘yeah they used to but now they’re closed’, which I know why they used to sell for so cheap and clearly the authorities figured it out too.”
Sardar continued: “I think it’s going to have a good effect on kids too, because now they can’t access cigs and nicotine as easily which means the high street is better now than it was before the raids.”
Evidently, people knew that the goods were too cheap to be true or legitimate, lending itself to the case that the community is better off now.
Source: Henry Price-Chapman | All Rights ReservedThe community is constantly moving forwards, with the Armley Action Team playing a key role and a spokesperson saying: “We appreciate stories that shine light onto our community’s strengths amid challenges. The Safer Streets efforts are a huge positive step forwards and contributes towards making our high street safer and more welcoming for everyone.”
They continued: “We are committed to making our community thrive and some real action being taken on complaints we’ve heard from residents is a breath of fresh air.”
The crime rates in the Armley ward is around 192 incidents per thousand residents which leaves it ranking in the medium to high level of crime in comparison to other wards around England and the UK.
With that, it is considered as one of the more deprived places in Leeds as a significant proportion of the population are living in the most deprived fifth of the city.
The impact on the community may therefore be more than first meets the eye – as these counterfeit goods were cheaper than others on the market.
This means that these crime rates may go up for those more deprived, due to the higher costs, and spiral the community despite groups such as the Armley Action Team working to better things.
There are plenty of examples of good in the community and the Safer Streets campaign has been a show of force towards bettering Armley overall.
If you have any information regarding any illicit dealings, contact the West Yorkshire Police by calling 101.
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