An operation by South Gloucestershire Trading Standards in the United Kingdom has removed more than 3,600 counterfeit branded car parts, with an estimated value of more than £100,000 (€113,000).

The UK IPO supported the action, which involved enforcement teams from eight car manufacturers.

The seized items included fake spark plugs, oil filters, air filters, fuel filters, windscreen wipers and sensors. Also found were counterfeit parts in plain packaging and sheets of unused counterfeit labels.

The seizure follows the arrest of three people in east London over the sale of counterfeit airbags in September last year.

According to a recent UK IPO survey, one in six motorists bought a counterfeit part in the previous 12 months alone. The most commonly bought counterfeit parts were car batteries, tyres/wheels, brake pads/discs and airbags.

In a notice published by the UK IPO last week, the Office’s Deputy Director of Enforcement said: “These fake parts bypass safety tests and are often made with vastly inferior materials, putting them at serious risk of failure with potentially devastating results. This latest seizure demonstrates that criminals are continuing to exploit the use of legitimate self-storage facilities across the UK to store counterfeit goods.”

Picture from UK IPO website