Hackney Trading Standards is ramping up its campaign to clear the borough of counterfeit alcohol this Christmas and New Year and is calling on residents to be extra vigilant when making purchases, especially of wines, vodkas, champagnes and scotch whiskeys.

In the past six months Trading Standards has seized approximately 85 bottles of counterfeit alcohol in 15 different premises around Hackney. The fake product has been tested and found to be of poor quality and in some past cases has contained methanol, which could cause death.

Cllr Feryal Demirci, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods said: "Hackney is working hard to ensure our shops are free from counterfeit alcohol, which is not only bad in quality, it can also be damaging to the health. Our campaign will continue through and beyond the Christmas period and we want our residents to be aware of what to look out for and to report anything they consider to be suspicious".

Trading Standards has advised that some of the clues to spotting fake bottles can include: spelling mistakes, different words to that on original bottles, wrong or no batch codes and a different taste to normal.

If you have any queries, please contact Hackney Trading Standards on 020 8356 4929.