Team sets the pace to catch Olympics touts

A specialist intelligence squad to tackle counterfeit goods vendors and ticket touts during the countdown to the Olympic Games has been launched.

The Midlands-wide team is made up of trading standards officers across the region.

It will hunt down anyone selling unauthorised merchandise or fake tickets – especially when the torch reaches the region on May 30 and June 30. Peter Calvert, trading standards manager at Wolverhampton City Council, said the issue was particularly pressing for the West Midlands.

Coventry will host 12 footballing events during the Games, including the women's bronze medal match. "We have an intelligence group dedicated to this as we are fully aware there will be a considerable amount of counterfeit goods likely to be around," he said.

"We will be actively looking for anyone dealing in these fake goods. They are likely to either be sourcing the items from other people or hiring other people to do it for them. The group will share information on the likely level of counterfeiting of tickets over the coming months and allocating resources accordingly.

"We will also be carrying out patrols on the days when the torch will be in the region to stop any unauthorised street sellers." The group's first meeting will be in February, he added.

The decision to create the team comes after trading standards officers in Coventry seized fake Olympic 2012 lighters at a car boot sale in April. And in March, officers in Westminster, London, seized £100,000 worth of counterfeit goods including polo shirts.

The torch will be in Staffordshire on May 30, heading through Gnosall, Haughton and Stafford, and then again on June 30 when it will visit Lichfield and Great Wyrley before heading through the Black Country.

It will first pass through Bloxwich, Leamore, Birchills and Walsall, before being taken through Willenhall to Wolverhampton.

It will stop off at the Black Country Living Museum in Dudley, where it will ride the tram, prior to heading to Oldbury, West Bromwich and Smethwick.