TWO men who stored fake tobacco and cigarettes have both received suspended prison sentences.

At Lewes Crown Court, Aram Nadrei was given a six-month sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid work.

Chiya Baaktiar Swar Sherwany was given a four-month sentence suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 80 hours of unpaid work.

Trading Standards officers visited the shop All Sorts in Montague Street, Worthing, with sniffer dogs and discovered cigarettes and tobacco inside a drinks’ fridge.

They seized 104 packets of cigarettes and 60 pouches each containing 50g of tobacco.

Officers returned to the shop on March 8, 2018, and discovered a further 50 packets of cigarettes hidden inside the shop walls.

On June 25, 2018, Trading Standards officers found Nadrei had made a payment to a storage unit in Worthing. This was later searched and more than 3,000 packets of cigarettes and 32 tobacco pouches were discovered there.

Samples of the products were sent for testing and some were found to be dangerous.

Richard Sargeant, of West Sussex Trading Standards, said: “Illicit tobacco and cigarettes do not self-extinguish which makes them very dangerous. This sentence highlights the seriousness of the crime and I hope it will deter others from doing the same.”