FAKE trainers worth more than £35,000 have been seized in a joint "sting" operation by police and Trading Standards.

A carefully planned raid on a house in Blackburn Road yesterday morning uncovered 275 pairs of counterfeit training shoes destined for Internet customers.

The sting, which saw specialist conterfeit investigators from sports wear giants Nike pose as "buyers", was set up after an internet operation was seen to be selling fake trainers.

Three police officers and trading standards officials waited in a van ouside the terraced property where a number of trainers were found after a search at around 10am.

They raided the house and a later search of a lock-up uncovered the rest of the £130-per-pair shoes - still in their import cartons.

Two men were arrested and later released on bail.

It is believed the trainers could have been part of a large consignment brought into the country from the Far East.

Trading Standards officer Darrell Wilson said: "This is quite a common procedure. Nike employ investigators who find and track this sort of operation and we use our powers to confiscate them.

"It seems that these trainers were due to be sold over the internet and, while they might look quite realistic on a picture, the long term quality is likely to be very poor.

"This seemed to be a very big operation with the trainers probably being sold all over the country."

Mr Wilson said the trainers were being sold on internet auction sites such as e-bay.

The Nike investigators had contacted the vendors and arranged to buy 200 pairs at £40 each.

He added: "Every now and again they trawl the internet sites and look for people selling their merchandise. They are very careful about who they supply and were suspicious to find these shoes for sale."

"Obviously if people do see something for sale on the internet which seems to be very cheap then there is probably a reason for that and we would advise people to steer clear."