THOUSANDS of illegal cigarettes and litres of counterfeit alcohol worth more than £100,000 has been seized from Bolton’s streets in the last seven months, Bosses at HMRC have revealed the extent of the problem as tax evaders Mark Norris, aged 44, of Radbourne Grove, Lostock, Zulfkhar Hussain, aged 54, of Cross Street, Bolton, Saleem Khan, aged 45, of Kilworth Drive, Lostock and William Booth, aged 53, of Dunoon Drive, Astley Bridge, were jailed last week for a total of 12 years for their roles in smuggling alcohol from Europe and selling it to Bolton shops.

Four other members of the ring, received suspended jail terms.

A spokesman for the HMRC said: “Whatever its origin, every bottle of counterfeit spirits sold means the public purse loses out on alcohol duty.

“That is £1million each year which could be funding schools, hospitals and other vital public services.”

Since August last year counterfeit goods worth more than £100,000 have been taken off Bolton’s streets.

In November last year, HMRC seized 3,752 cigarettes, 2.65kg of hand rolling tobacco and 5.1kg of fruit flavoured tobacco from three Bolton shops during checks on traders with police.

Nearly £1,450 in tax was thought to have been evaded. Checks on wholesalers in the town in August resulted in 41,119 litres of wines, spirits and beers being seized from stores across Bolton, equating to more than £55,000 in evaded UK duty.

Four men were given suspended custodial sentences in August, 2010, after the HMRC caught them with 46,980 cigarettes and 51.7kg of tobacco.

The HMRC spokeswoman said: “Organised criminal gangs will deal in any commodity alcohol, tobacco, rebated oils, drugs, stolen goods, illegal immigrants and human trafficking — whatever makes them money and allows them to launder their criminal profits.

“Many people who buy a few cans of lager or dodgy cigarettes do not realise the scale of criminality behind the sellers they are dealing with.”