SHOPS in Dorset are facing closure because of tobacco smuggling.

A survey carried out by the Tobacco Alliance has revealed that a quarter of retailers have had to lay off staff to compensate for the money they are losing, while another quarter have considered doing likewise.

It claims that every store in the country loses on average £1,000 each week due to tobacco smuggling.

Rachael Humphries, a supervisor for Alldays Stores Ltd in - ironically - Smugglers Lane, Wimborne, said: "We sell a lot of cigarettes each week and it probably accounts for a sixth of our business. One week we sold about £3,800 worth.

"Smuggling has to affect our business because it means that people won't buy them from us and will look elsewhere."

Another retailer in Poole, Paula Brooker, said: "There is no question that tobacco smuggling is having a detrimental effect on our business.

"The government needs to act - and act fast - in order to erase tobacco smuggling and to help safeguard corner shops like mine across the UK."

Bob Gaiger, a spokesman for Customs in Poole and Bournemouth, said: "We are well aware of the situation that independent retailers find themselves in and we would like to intercept the smuggling rings.

"In Poole we have had several seizures of cigarettes in their millions."

One solution popular with smaller retailers is for the government to cut taxes.

Roger Bendell, the South West spokesman for the Tobacco Alliance and a retailer in Exeter, said: "The root cause of the problem is the high level of tobacco taxation imposed by the government in the UK.

"It is this policy which creates the huge difference in prices between tobacco in the UK and that in the rest of Europe, giving the smugglers all the incentive they need to commit their crime."

However, Mr Gaiger disagrees.

"I don't know that decreasing taxes would stop smuggling.

"Look at other European countries where taxes are lower, like Spain and Italy - they still have problems. Italy in particular has a big problem.

"Taxation is part of this government's health policy to discourage smoking."

He added: "The best thing shop keepers can do to help tackle the problem is to pass on any information about bootlegging in their area."

The number to ring is 0800 595000.

First published: August 21