The South Glos Post

A South Gloucestershire market trader has been handed a 12 week curfew order after his stall was found stocked with 255 items of counterfeit clothing, including copies of brands like Bench, Henleys and Adidas.

Amarjit Singh, 18, of Sutherland Avenue, Downend, appeared before Northavon Magistrates on Tuesday 18th January and pleaded guilty to 14 charges of possessing counterfeit goods for sale under the Trade Marks Act 1994. His sentence requires him to stay at home between the hours of 7am and 7pm on Saturdays and Sundays for the next three months. In addition he was ordered to pay £250 in prosecution costs.

The case was brought by South Gloucestershire Trading Standards after they identified a number of stallholders trading illegally at a Saturday market held in Filton. In December 2009 Trading Standards, along with police and clothing industry representatives raided the market and suspected offenders were arrested.

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Source: South Gloucestershire Council

Residents in South Gloucestershire are encouraged to get their electric blankets tested for free on Tuesday 18th January at Patchway Fire Station.

South Gloucestershire Council is providing the free blanket testing in partnership with Avon Fire and Rescue Service to help prevent the risk of fire caused by old or faulty blankets. Nationally, it is estimated that old or damaged electric blankets can cause 5,000 house fires a year and older people are at greatest risk according to the charity, Age UK.

So if you, or a family member need to get your blanket tested, please book an appointment by calling 01454 863632. Testing will take place between 10am and 3pm.

Cllr Heather Goddard, executive member for communities, said: “If you’ve got an electric blanket then we strongly recommend you take advantage of this free service which is open to all residents in the district. Used correctly, electric blankets can be a great comfort especially to older people, but they need to be properly maintained and stored. It’s better to be safe than sorry.”

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Source: South Gloucestershire Council

A Downend man has pleaded guilty to 20 charges under the Trade Marks Act 1994, involving the sale of counterfeit clothing at a market held at Filton recreation ground.

Luckwinder Singh, 22, of Badminton Road, Downend, appeared at Northavon Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday 5th October and admitted possessing fake clothing for sale. He also asked the court to take into consideration a further 24 similar offences.

Singh was sentenced to a four month community order, was ordered to pay full costs of £2924.62 and a forfeiture order was also made for his vehicle and all of the counterfeit stock.

The community order was in the form of a curfew that restricts Singh from leaving his home between the hours of 7pm and 6am, seven days a week, for a period of four months.

The prosecution was brought by South Gloucestershire trading standards after investigations identified Singh’s illegal activities at Filton market. In December 2009 officers from trading standards and Avon and Somerset Police raided the market, where Singh was arrested and a large number of counterfeit items were seized from his stall and his vehicle. The vehicle, a Mercedes Sprinter used by Singh to operate his counterfeiting enterprise was also seized at the time. A warrant was later executed at Singh’s home address where further counterfeit items were seized.

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Source: South Gloucestershire Council

The people of South Gloucestershire are being urged to help end the scourge of mass marketed scam mailing, by taking part in a nationwide Scamnesty campaign.

South Gloucestershire Council is backing the Office of Fair Trading campaign, which runs throughout February, by encouraging its residents to collect any scam mailing they receive and drop them into designated Scamnesty bins located in all One Stop Shops and most libraries. A full list of locations is available at www.southglos.gov.uk/Scamnesty.

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Source: South Gloucestershire Council