BRADFORD is a hotspot for the sale of illegal cigarettes and tobacco, an expert warned last night.

Statistics show West Yorkshire Trading Standards completed five prosecutions in the city in relation to illegal tobacco between April 2014 and March this year.

But since April, there have already been four prosecutions, with nine further investigations ongoing.

The latest to be prosecuted was a newsagent who admitted possessing 12,660 illicit cigarettes and 1.1 kilograms of illicit hand-rolling tobacco with intent to supply.

Reza Nouri, 25, who runs K&H News & Off Licence in Morley Street, pleaded guilty to a total of 19 offences including tobacco products not bearing the statutory health warnings, counterfeit tobacco, keeping non-duty paid goods in a licensed premises, and failing to display an A3 underage tobacco notice.

He was fined £415 and ordered to pay a £41.50 victim surcharge and £1,000 costs.

Magistrates also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cigarettes and tobacco.

Nouri's scam came to light following intelligence received by West Yorkshire Trading Standards officers. They visited the shop and seized items in March, September and October last year.

Officers said the tobacco was found concealed behind the counter in a gym bag, crisp boxes and in a store room.

The products did not have any of the statutory health warnings, such as 'Smoking Kills' or 'Smoking seriously harms you and others around you' on them, which is an offence.

Officers said Nouri was selling, on average, 72 illicit tobacco products a day, earning a monthly revenue of £6,048.

Nouri, of Little Horton Lane, refused to comment when the Telegraph & Argus visited his shop yesterday.

But Paul Baxter, National Federation of Retail Newsagents chief executive, said: "Unscrupulous retailers like Reza Nouri tarnish the image of the thousands of hard-working and responsible independent retailers working the length and breadth of the UK.

"The NFRN is dismayed and saddened when we hear of rogue traders who have been tempted to sell illegal products.

"The illicit tobacco trade is not victimless. It has a devastating impact on the income of legitimate retailers and undermines their position in the community. What's more, people who sell illicit tobacco products have no qualms about selling to children - something no responsible retailer will do - and do not care about the contents within them.

"We would always urge our members to report any instances of illegal sales to trading standards or HMRC."

Mike Ridgway, director of the Consumer Packaging Manufacturers Alliance, warned the problem could become even worse next year when the Government introduces plain packaging for tobacco products.

"It is endemic across West Yorkshire. Bradford is one of the hotspots for illicit tobacco," he said.

"When the Government introduces plain packaging next year it will increase the illicit trade even more."

Mr Ridgway said evidence showed the introduction of plain packaging in Australia had led to a rise in the trade of illicit tobacco there.

"One in seven cigarettes in Australia is from illegal sources," he said. "The indications are that the same thing will happen in Bradford.

"When plain packaging comes in it is going to make it so much easier to counterfeit cigarettes."

Bradford Council deputy leader, Councillor Val Slater, who is chairman of the West Yorkshire Trading Standards Committee, condemned the black market tobacco trade.

"Far from being a victimless crime, it makes it easier for children to start smoking, takes advantage of cash-strapped families and helps fund organised crime," she said.

David Lodge, head of West Yorkshire Trading Standards, said illegal tobacco was sold for a third of the price of legitimate tobacco.

"Illegal tobacco trading creates a cheap source for children and young people and encourages adults to continue smoking by eroding cost-motivation to quit," he said.

"It is also linked to organised crime and contributes to an underground economy worth hundreds of millions of pounds."

A West Yorkshire Trading Standards spokesman said: "We have hotspots dotted over WY and it is fair to say Bradford is no different to other areas. We act on consumer complaints and intelligence and we have more information about Bradford.

"The size of the illegal tobacco market has shown a sustained, long term national decline in recent years as a result of co-ordinated efforts regionally, nationally and internationally.

"However, illegal tobacco is still a problem in some of our most deprived communities and efforts must be sustained in order to continue this downward trend.

"Despite good progress, the existence of an illegal trade undermines the effectiveness of measures to reduce smoking rates even further because illegal tobacco is available at low prices, undermining smokers' efforts to cut down or quit. Children are able to get hold of tobacco easily within their communities, enabling them to become hooked at a young age.

"Public Health funding has allowed West Yorkshire Trading Standards to form a small team dedicated to dealing with illegal tobacco. Since April 2014 they have removed almost 750,000 illegal cigarettes and more than 300kg of illegal hand-rolling tobacco from the streets of West Yorkshire."