SHOPPERS at Morecambe’s Festival Market can be sure they’re buying the genuine article thanks to a new campaign to stamp out sales of fake goods.

The Real Deal initiative is seeing market traders, Lancashire County Council Trading Standards service and Lancaster City Council unite to crack down on counterfeits which damage legitimate businesses and see dangerous criminals profit from the proceeds.

The Festival Market is among the first markets in the county to display the Real Deal brand – which tells consumers that traders have signed up to a code of practice to ‘self-police’ the market and take action if they spot anything suspicious.

County Councillor Albert Atkinson, deputy leader of Lancashire County Council, said: “Morecambe’s Festival Market is a great place for shoppers to visit and provides an environment for legitimate local businesses to trade successfully. The Real Deal campaign will make sure it stays that way.

“The traders themselves are best placed to know what’s going on in their own market – any business caught selling fakes damages the reputation and success of the whole market and it’s in everyone’s interest to be vigilant.”

Councillor Jon Barry, Cabinet member with responsibility for markets at Lancaster City Council, said: “This is a busy time of year for shoppers and we would like to assure any customers visiting the Festival Market that they can be sure of the ‘real deal’ when they buy from our traders.”