PIRATED DVDs are being openly sold at a popular Leigh boot sale.

An Echo investigation has revealed a stall has been selling copied DVDs at Leigh’s Lazybones boot sale held each Sunday.

The Lazybones sale starts at 7am every Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday in the station car park and attracts people from all over the county.

After being alerted that a number of fake films were being openly sold there, including Star Trek Into Darkness, which only hit the cinemas in May and is not due to be released on DVD until August, the operator Lloyd Dowell was contacted.

Mr Dowell was given the opportunity to act on our information on June 27. He said he was constantly vigilant against fraudsters and had set up patrols to root out any stalls selling fake goods.

But the Echo attended the sale on Sunday, and once again saw pirate copies of World War Z, which has only just hit the cinema, being sold openly. It won’t be released on DVD until at least October.

One regular boot sale goer, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he had been going for about two months.

He said: “There is a crew operating out of Lazybones at Leigh railway station. They have fold-out decorating tables and sell DVDs and all sorts. They can get you whatever you want.

“They are selling them three for £10. They aren’t trying to hide it. They are right there in your face. They get quite busy. Usually it’s one old guy and a couple of younger guys.”

He said he had taken pictures, reported it to Southend Council and taken down car registration numbers. As of Tuesday, he hadn’t received a response.

Southend Council recently cracked down on people selling counterfeit DVDs and games.

Officers recently seized fake DVDs and computer games from a Southend man.

Spencer Vaughan, 32, of Audleys Close, admittedusing trade marks in an unauthorised way when he appeared at Southend Crown Court.

He was ordered to complete 150 hours of community service and pay £350 costs.

Carl Robinson, Southend Council’s group manager for regulatory services, urged the public to report the sale of fake goods.

He said: “We take into account any information we receive when we are planning how to target our resources, and will consider the most appropriate action in each case.

“We welcome any information which may assist.”

Anyone who believes they have bought counterfeit goods, or has any information, contact Southend Council’s Trading Standards team on 01702 215000.

 

Operators deny claims

THE operators of Lazybones boot sale denies allowing illegal goods to be sold at the site.

Lloyd Dowell said they were constantly on the look-out for fraudsters.

He said: “We are very vigilant with that sort of stuff. We set up patrols that go round checking and as soon as any counterfeit goods are discovered they are ejected and we report everything we find to the proper authorities. If somebody comes up and tells us where they are then we can deal with them. If there are illegal items being sold we will ask those people to leave.

"If someone had pointed it out to us on Sunday we could have turfed him out.”