Police find hidden tunnel in Oxford Street American candy store which charged tourists £900

Police raided an American candy store on Oxford Street after it charged £900 for sweets and discovered a secret underground tunnel with thousands of alleged counterfeit items. Two staff members quickly fled the scene.

Teaming up with , the carried out their raid after disgruntled were charged nearly a grand for just two packets of sweets. The tourists were later offered a for the £899 transaction when they returned to the store with on the weekend of April 12 to April 13. During a subsequent raid of the building on April 25, officers discovered a hidden section of the store leading to a basement - set behind a camouflaged wall covered in bags.

While carrying out a thorough sweep of the store an officer uncovered a hidden tunnel, where two shop assistants fled to evade capture, the council said. There, officers found thousands of alleged counterfeit items amounting to a "street value" of around £80,000.

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The raid is believed to be the largest seizure of suspected counterfeit and unsafe goods ever made on Oxford Street.

Thousands of items were confiscated, including American snacks, cigarettes, single-use vapes, nicotine pouches, heated tobacco, travel adaptors, and power banks. Many of the cigarettes lacked the legally required plain packaging with deterrent health warnings.

Among the haul were knock-off versions of major brands like Marlboro and Benson & Hedges, as well as 'Top Gun' cigarettes - a Chinese imitation brand that's increasingly cropping up across the UK. Some of the single-use vapes claimed to be nicotine-free, despite listing nicotine in their ingredients.

Other vapes claimed their "puff" counts were as high as 20,000 - with tank sizes four to five times the legal 2ml limit. Councillor Adam Hug, leader of Westminster City Council, said: "We have known for a long time that US candy stores rip off customers, but charging £900 for two packets of sweets is a new low, even for the unscrupulous people who run these rackets.

"Our job is to protect people who visit the West End from being exploited and continuing raids and court appearances will ensure life is sour for the rogue US sweet shop trade. Hopefully, the fall in the number of US candy and souvenir shops means the tide is going out on this tatty trade."

Over the last two years, trading standard officers have seized more than £1million in fake and unsafe goods from the nefarious American candy stores on Oxford street.

The has contacted the Metropolitan Police for comment.