Specialist dog hunts for illicit tobacco (From Runcorn and Widnes World)
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Tobacco dog joins vehicle roadside check
6:20pm Monday 26th December 2011 in News By World reporter
A SPECIALLY trained dog was used to check for illicit tobacco being smuggled into Halton.
Agencies teamed up to carry out road checks to identify overweight and unroadworthy vehicles in Widnes at the end of November.
Sixty vehicles were examined by Halton Trading Standards, working alongside Cheshire Police, licence agencies and fuel testing teams.
A tobacco dog was supplied by Wagtail to intercept any illicit tobacco being brought into the town.
Clr Stef Nelson, board member for consumer protection, said: “We will target the sale of illicit tobacco wherever it occurs in the borough and at all levels.
“The use of a tobacco dog on roadside checks is a viable tactic and more checks will be carried out in the future.”
Ten prohibition notices were issued for unroadworthy vehicles and one man was reported by Cheshire Police for dangerous driving .
