HUNDREDS of pirate DVDs and CDs have been seized from rogue traders at a popular car boot sale.

Police and Trading Standards officers swooped on stallholders at Lever Street yesterday morning, causing a handful of dealers to flee.

They left 500 counterfeit DVDs behind, which included newly released films such as Hot Fuzz, Ghost Rider, Charlotte's Web and The Illusionist.

Playstation and X-Box games were also among the haul, which was being sold by around eight traders. Discs were available for as little as £5 each.

About 3,000 discs were seized the previous weekend from the same market.

No arrests were made yesterday, but the haul of fake goods is now being examined to establish its origin.

The operation is the latest in a series of raids which have been orchestrated by Trading Standards officers to banish counterfeiters from Bolton. Dozens of stallholders use the busy market legitimately, but a small number of crooks have set up stalls selling fake goods as well as contraband tobacco and alcohol.

Sgt Kevin Lister from Bolton police, said: "We have disrupted the activities of these people and made it clear that they have no place in the town.

"This is a high-profile operation which is ongoing and we are working with Trading Standards to bring prosecutions against anybody who is caught operating illegally.

"The loss of what we have seized today for those who are responsible for making these fakes will have a big effect on their profits."

In December, 20 police officers raided the market and made 13 arrests in the biggest ever crackdown on bootleggers.