Del Boy thriving on £1billion black market in pubs

By Iain O'Neil

- Last updated on GMT

Related tags Theft Crime Britain

Del Boy thriving on £1billion black market in pubs
A new survey says there is roaring trade with £1billion pounds changing hands in Britain's pubs - trouble is the money is not going to licensees....

A new survey says there is roaring trade with £1billion pounds changing hands in Britain's pubs - trouble is the money is not going to licensees.

New 'research' by Halifax Bank suggests there is a black market of illegal goods changing hands in pubs and clubs which the company says is worth £1billion.

Their survey found Del Boy is doing well with around 12% of the people they asked admitting they had bought items such as DVDs, jewellery or electrical goods in a pub.

Two-thirds said they would knowingly buy stolen goods -even if they had been taken from someone's home.

Only one in five asked where the goods came from and 49% said they would not report it to the police.

Men were said to be twice as likely to buy illegally as women, with 17% admitting they had done so, compared with 8% of women.

A Halifax Home Insurance spokeswoman said: "Millions of Britons may be unwittingly fuelling a cycle of theft by making it easy for burglars to resell their products in pubs and bars.

"People should be aware that this is not a victimless crime, their pursuit of a bargain is part of the reason burglary remains a widespread social problem."

What, if anything, can be done to combat illegal trading? Why are pubs the apparent hotbed of sales and should licensees be given more help to stamp it out? Email us by clicking this link

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