TAUNTON and Wellington’s Liberal Democrat MP has called for tougher laws against shops which trade illegally.

Speaking during a Parliamentary debate on a House of Lords amendment to the Crime and Policing Bill MP Gideon Amos said: “We campaigned during the General Election for a return to proper community policing and to safer high streets and town centres and ending the scourge of illegal trading must be part of that.

“Thanks to local publicans in my constituency who came forward with vital information, I raised illegal trading in Taunton with Somerset Council and the local police a year ago.

“So I would like to pay tribute to police officers like Andy, the Trading Standards officers and my Lib Dem Somerset councillor colleagues, such as Mike Rigby, overseeing the work that has led to a number of really high-profile closures.

“Taunton Market, Mr Taunton and Top Market have rightly been closed down, following just the kind of crackdown that was needed.

“I have a message for anyone else considering that kind of activity in Taunton and Wellington: Illegal trading isn’t welcome, you will be closed down and you will be prosecuted.”

Mr Amos added: “We need to go further, though.”

He explained that the Chartered Trading Standards Institute has called for properly resourced Trading Standards services, tackling the local government funding crisis and in particular the social care funding crisis, the main burden under which councils are struggling.

The Association of Convenience Stores found that 25 percent of retailers identified stolen goods being sold locally in their areas, including the under-age sale of alcohol, tobacco, vapes or counterfeit goods, such as cigarettes.

“Somerset councillors to whom I have spoken about this also want civil penalties against landlords who knowingly let their premises be used for illegal trading, and that has also been raised by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.

“Those fines should be given to the council both to support Trading Standards work and to clean up the town centre environment. I believe that repeat offenders among landlords should forfeit their retail property to the council to allow its reuse or regeneration.

“Behind too many illegal shops are complicit landlords cashing in on the rent from illegal activity, and right now they face no consequences at all.”

He proposed that a police superintendent or local authority chief executive should be able to immediately close premises used to trade illegally for up to 14 days, without the requirement of having to apply to the courts to do so, as required in current legislation

He added: “Enabling a rapid response of this kind would also help to tackle phoenixing, whereby new ventures open a new company just a few doors down from their closed premises.”

Somerset Council’s lead member on economic development, Cllr Mike Rigby, added: “It’s really disappointing when criminals impact our high streets by taking up premises, which could instead be used by legitimate businesses, for their nefarious purposes.

“Working with the police, the council’s Trading Standards service will find these crooked shops and close them down.”