More than £1.3m worth of fake Apple products recovered by council

A phone call six months ago about an overheating charger has led to West Sussex County Council capturing a huge number of Apple chargers, batteries, cables, headphones and adapters.

Its seizure in a warehouse in London came after a resident rang the council’s trading standards team after purchasing a charger from a ship in Haywards Heath, West Sussex.

Despite being branded an official Apple product, it was found to be too hot when charging a laptop.

The team carried out a test purchase at the store where it was later confirmed to be a fake – leading the team to stores in Brighton and then a warehouse in Kingston-upon-Thames where the entirety of the fake stock was recovered.

Richard Sargeant, the trading standards’ team manager said: ‘This operation uncovered the highest value haul of fake products we have ever been involved in. It shows the team’s importance.’