Counterfeit vodka laced with potentially lethal amounts of methanol is being offered for sale in Medway.

Bottles with two different labels have been discovered at off-licences during raids by Medway Council trading standards staff.

It follows complaints from a customer who bought one of the bottles.

Staff are being interviewed and it is possible there will be prosecutions and the removal of licences. The bottles were labelled Glen Vodka and Spa Imperial Vodka.

Trading standards officers will destroy the vodka they seized.

Methanol is used in the production of anti-freeze and can be fatal if drunk in large quantities.

The raid was revealed to councillors during a council scrutiny meeting to examine the work of community safety portfolio holder Cllr Rehman Chishti.

He said the bottles contained 500 times the safe level of methanol.

“It was lethal,” he said after the meeting. “If someone consumed it they would be dead.”

• Methanol is often used to boost the strength of illegal “bootleg” liquor

• Trading standards officers have seized counterfeit vodka in many areas of the UK.

• It has a hint of acetone smell, similar to nail varnish.

• There are no European legal limits on the amount of methanol in vodka.

• The Trading Standards Agency says vodka should not contain more than 0.5g of methanol per litre of 100 per cent volume alcohol. The samples found in Medway were 500 times that

• Genuine vodka is made from agriculturally produced ethyl alcohol.

• Symptoms of methanol poisoning include severe stomach pain, drowsiness, dizziness, blurred vision and blindness. Drinkers might not be immediately aware of its dangers.

Councillors also heard about the undercover oeprations being run to catch rogue traders. They range from poor food and knife sales to illegal cars and boot-fair forgeries.

Market traders are given two chances. If they are caught a third time with counterfeit goods they will be barred from Medway.

Councillors were also told community safety officers dealt with 10,489 incidents of pest control; 3,825 reports of rats; 2,585 noise problems; 1,429 food inspections; 1,300 businesses about smoke-free legislation; 948 planning contraventions; made 829 arrests from CCTV coverage; and seized 174 untaxed