Bolton’s trading standards team has scooped a prestigious national award from the Anti-Counterfeiting Group for its work tackling intellectual property and product safety crime. The honour, presented at the Chartered Trading Standards Institute Conference, recognises outstanding enforcement across the UK and places Bolton’s officers among the very best in the country.
The award follows a string of high-profile operations, including a joint raid with Greater Manchester Police on 5 June 2026 that netted illegal goods with an estimated street value of more than £2 million. Three 40-tonne lorry loads of perfumes, clothing, cosmetics, and large volumes of chemicals used to manufacture vapes and fragrances were removed from a commercial premises. Earlier, on 17 March, officers seized 211,606 banned single-use vapes from a Halliwell warehouse — a haul worth around £1.7 million.
Those vapes have been illegal to sell in the UK since June 2025 under environmental and health regulations. In a separate case, counterfeit Labubu dolls intercepted in the borough were found to have loose eyes, hands and feet that may pose a choking hazard to young children, and they lacked the legally required CE or UKCA safety marks. Cllr Robert Morrisey, Executive Cabinet Member for Regulatory Services, said the award underlined the council’s commitment to safeguarding communities and tackling illegal trading.
The Anti-Counterfeiting Group, founded in 1980, represents more than 3,000 brands worldwide and works closely with UK and international enforcement agencies. Bolton’s trading standards team carries out proactive inspections year-round to ensure businesses comply with consumer protection legislation, and the ACG recognition highlights the sustained impact of that work.
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