A shop owner has been sent to prison for concealing and selling illegal cigarettes and tobacco.

Sadar Ahmadi, 32, of Burch Road, Gravesend, pleaded guilty to 20 charges covering the unauthorised use of registered trademarks, possessing the supply of unsafe products and breaching the controls on the standardised packaging of tobacco products.

He was caught after sniffer dogs found a stash of illegal cigarettes and hand rolling tobacco behind a false wall in Harem Shop, High Street, Chatham on Monday, October 16 2017.

A counterfeit electrical consumer unit had been attached to the wall to conceal it.

He was sentenced to 180 days imprisonment, and ordered to pay £7,172 in costs.

Cllr Jane Chitty (Con), Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for enforcement, said: "Our Trading Standards officers work tirelessly to reduce the supply of illegal tobacco being sold in Medway.

"The illegal tobacco trade is not safe for consumers and harms legitimate businesses.

"Selling these kind of products brings unwanted organised crime into our communities and undermines efforts to discourage smoking.

"I’d encourage anyone who knows of illegal tobacco being sold to report it, so we can work together to tackle this issue, and to prosecute offenders."

Cllr David Brake (Con), Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder covering public health, said: "Illegal tobacco can be highly dangerous and toxic. It is also concerning as the reduced price of illegal cigarettes could encourage children to start smoking.

"Smoking remains the single biggest cause of disease and so it’s important that we continue to provide services to help smokers quit and, at the same time, tackle the issue of reducing the supply of illegal tobacco. We provide free advice to help those who want to stop smoking at our Smokefree Advice Centre in Railway Street, Chatham."