Chewing tobacco, oral snuff and alcohol have been seized from shops in south London in an attempt to crack down on the illegal trade.

Shops in Croydon, Tooting, Sutton and Streatham were raided during a week-long operation that uncovered 49,180 cigarettes, 2.15 kilos of hand-rolling tobacco and 731.3 litres of alcohol, all believed to be illicit.

A further 43.06 kilos of chewing tobacco, 10.98 kilos of oral snuff, 85.5 kilos of shisha tobacco and £2,600 in cash were also seized.

HM Revenue and Customs led the charge and its assistant director in the fraud investigation service, Chris Gill, said illegal trade of this kind was costing people billions each year.

“The sale of illegal tobacco and alcohol will not be tolerated by us or our partner agencies," he said.

"Disrupting criminal trade is at the heart of our strategy to clampdown on the illicit tobacco market, which costs the UK around £2.5 billion a year, and the sale of illicit alcohol which costs the UK around £1.3 billion per year.

"This is theft from the taxpayer and undermines legitimate traders.

“We encourage anyone with information about the illegal sale of tobacco or alcohol to report it online or call the Fraud Hotline on 0800 788 887.”

A total of 78 shops were visited as part of the operation, with suspected illegal tobacco and alcohol products seized from 16 of those.

Merton Council’s assistant director of public protection, John Hill, called this kind of trade "immoral" and "dangerous."

“This week has seen a co-ordinated clampdown across Merton on those retailers who are putting public health seriously at risk by selling fake products which are not what they are purporting to be," he said.

“With often a far more dangerously high tar content than the genuine item, such fake tobacco and cigarettes are often filled materials such as excrement and dead flies and contain a very low level of genuine tobacco content.

“This kind of activity is not only immoral, it is dangerous and illegal and we will continue to work closely with the public and our partners to stamp it out.”