Raid £100k of 'potentially deadly' fake vehicle parts seized from unit

POTENTIALLY lethal fake vehicle parts valued at over £100,000 have been seized by authorities following a raid in north Bristol.

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The operation saw South Gloucestershire Trading Standards remove more than 3,600 counterfeit branded components from a trader operating from a self-storage facility.

The raid took place in July but have only now been made public.

Investigations are ongoing and the authorities would not provide further details of the business and whether arrests had been made.

Helen Barnham, deputy director of enforcement at the government's Intellectual Property Office, said: “Counterfeit vehicle parts can lead to life-changing or life-ending consequences for road users. This is anything but a victimless crime. These fake parts bypass safety tests and are often made with vastly inferior materials, putting them at serious risk of failure with potentially devastating results.”