Bolton trading standards honoured for major operations

The trading standards team at Bolton Council were handed the Anti-Counterfiting Group award after high-profile operations, including seizing £2M worth of illegal goods earlier in June.

The team also succeeded in seizing more than 200,000 illegal vapes in March this year and in August 2025 seized several potentially dangerous fake Labubu dolls.

Council cabinet member for the environment and regulatory services Cllr Robert Morrisey said: “Bolton Council continues to prioritise enforcement and proactive work to safeguard communities, working closely with partners to tackle illegal trading and protect public safety.

“This latest achievement demonstrates the council’s ongoing commitment to high standards of consumer protection and reinforces its reputation for excellence in trading standards.”

Goods were seized after a despite between a landlord and a tenant (Image: GMP)

The award was handed to the trading standards team to recognise its work tackling intellectual property and product safety crime.

Back in August last year, the Labubu dolls were seized from a shop in Bolton after they were found to have loose parts that could pose a choking hazard to young children.

The stitching was also found to be loose, exposing the filling which could be another choking hazard.

Some of the vapes seized in Halliwell (Image: Bolton Council)

This was followed by another high-profile operation in March when trading standards officers seized 30 pallets containing 211,606 illegal single-use vapes from a warehouse in Halliwell.

The single-use vapes, which have been banned from sale in the UK since June 2025, were estimated to have had a street value of £1M.

The June raid came about after concerns were raised during a landlord and tenant dispute which led to the authorities looking closer at goods they had found on site.

Trading standards officers then discovered a range of suspected illicit items, including perfumes, clothing, cosmetics, chemicals, vape liquids and fragrance products.

The three 40-tonne lorry loads of products are believed to have had a street value of more than £2M.

The award, a national rather than regional one, celebrates outstanding efforts across the whole of the UK trading standards service, placing Bolton’s team among the very best in the country.

The recognition highlights the team’s significant contribution over the past year in protecting residents and businesses from counterfeit goods and unsafe products.

It also honours them for disrupting criminal activity linked to IP and safety offences.