FAKE designer gear seized in a raid in East Lancashire is being passed on to help victims of the tsunami.

Branded clothes, watches, videos, shoes and perfume worth £7million were grabbed by Trading Standards officers during a raid in Waterfoot, Rossendale, in May 2004.

Now victims of the Boxing Day tsunami will soon be wearing fake Burberry, Armani and Reebok clothes.

The counterfeit designer clothes, including Yves St Laurent, Ralph Lauren and Polo, are now being sent to volunteers of the International Aid Trust in Much Hoole, where labels will be removed before shipment to Sri Lanka.

Chief trading standards officer Jim Potts said: "Goods like these are rarely top quality but they are perfectly serviceable.

"Some local authorities still send seized goods to landfill but we think people in the Far East can make very good use of these items.

"Counterfeit goods is a trade we have to stamp out. We believe it costs 1,000 jobs in the North West every year and takes about £750million from legitimate traders."

Mr Potts added: "That £7million of goods came from one raid shows the scale of the problem."

This year's raids by Lancashire County Council have been so successful that the department has had to hire extra warehouse space to store seized goods.

The international fake clothes racket operating from a back street warehouse in Lench Road was smashed by officers last year after a tip-off that large amounts of clothing were being sent there.

More than 72,000 items were seized.

Trading standards chiefs are still conducting their investigation. Nobody has been charged in relation to the incident.