SHOPS and customers are being warned to watch out for counterfeit bottles of vodka after a woman claimed she needed hospital t reatment a f t e r drinking i l l egal spirits.

Police visited every off-licence in Farnworth this week to warn shop owners to be vigilant — and not to buy counterfeit vodka from unscrupulous salesmen unwittingly.

The operation was launched because a woman reported to police that she fell ill after drinking vodka, which she later suspected was fake.

The vodka is still being investigated by Bolton Council’s trading standards team.

Police stressed there is nothing to worry about when drinking genuine vodka, but warned shoppers and licensees to look out for counterfeit bottles.

Counterfeit vodka often has poor quality labelling which is not stuck on straight, printed badly and may contain spelling mistakes.

They are often copies of well-known brands.

Sgt Steve Baldam, of the Bolton South neighbourhood policing team, said: “We want people to be on the lookout for this sort of stuff, and make them aware there may be some more counterfeit stock going about.

“It’s a concern to us that we’ve had a report of this nature, and we want to ensure that licensees know, because they can be as much a victim of this as anyone else.

“People should check bottles to make sure that they are actually what they say they are.”

Anyone who wants to contact the Bolton South Neighbourhood Police Team can contact them on 0161 8565608, or they can report Crime anonymously through Crimestoppers, on 0800 555111.