A CRACKDOWN on illegal tobacco sales has been launched as one in three smokers surveyed in Hertfordshire have said it had been offered to them.
Organisations across Hertfordshire – where around one in five adults smoke – are involved in a campaign to seize illegal cigarettes across the east of England.
A survey of smokers in the county found that one in three said they had been offered illegal tobacco in the past.
The campaign is being led by Smoke Free East of England, with supporting organisations including Hertfordshire County Council, Hertfordshire NHS and Hertfordshire Stop Smoking Service,
Richard Thake, cabinet member for community protection at the county council, said: “The sale of smuggled cigarettes is unregulated and damages the whole community. It is often sold to children and financially disadvantaged people with honest local shopkeepers suffering when sales are lost to criminals who peddle these illegal goods. The revenue evaded also means money which could have been spent on public services for the benefit of the community is lost.”
For more information about the campaign visit www.no-illegal-tobacco.co.uk or call Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111 if you can share information about illegal tobacco.
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