FAKE designer clothes are flooding out of Bolton sweat shops as the town's counterfeiting trade flourishes.

The revelation comes after an early morning raid on a terraced house in Halliwell netted more than 2,000 pairs of counterfeit designer jeans.

Counterfeit clothing with a street value approaching £ million has been seized in three raids in the last four months.

But Bolton trading standards bosses admit that despite their campaign to close the town's sweat shops, many are still operating.

And Cllr Peter Finch, chairman of the Environment and Consumer Sub-Committee, admitted the trading standards department is under-resourced.

He said: "I'm disappointed that it continues to happen in our town but people should be aware that trading standards are doing a wonderful job.

"I've highlighted the great workload they are under and we could do with extra trading standards officers. The Environmental Consumer department is one which needs extra resources."

With price tags as high as £50 a pair for the fake jeans the latest haul could be worth £100,000. Police officers joined a six-strong trading standards team who raided the house on Friday morning, having obtained a search warrant.

The terraced property had been transformed into a mini-factory complete with specialised rivet-punching machinery.

The jeans included false Armani, Levi, Versace and Calvin Klein labels.

But, although delighted with the seizure, Richard Lindley, principal trading standards officer, says there is still a major problem in the town.

He added: "We keep having these raids where we seize goods worth a lot of money, yet it's still not going away.

"We rely on information received from disgruntled competitors, residents who suspect something is going on or someone who just has a grudge to bear."

One person was arrested on Friday following the operation although no one has been charged.

The seized goods are now being stored in a secure unit at a secret location in the town.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.