Public health officials in Hull have stood up to the powerful tobacco industry in the fight against counterfeit cigarettes.
Imperial Tobacco offered to provide funding to Hull City Council for surveillance, test purchasing and tobacco detection dogs to stop counterfeit cigarettes being smuggled into the city.
However, the council rejected the offer because it clashed with its efforts to encourage Hull's 75,000 smokers to quit the habit.
Trevor Todd, assistant head of public protection at the council, said: "The council declined the company's offer to use their sniffer dogs to detect counterfeit tobacco.
"There is a fundamental and irreconcilable conflict between the tobacco industry's interests and public health policy interests."
The tobacco industry is keen to stop the trade in counterfeit cigarettes because it harms their profits.
However, illegal cigarettes can be even more harmful than normal cigarettes as they have not passed stringent tests.
About 75,000 adults smoke in Hull, which has a smoking prevalence of 34 per cent. However, in the more disadvantaged areas of the city, about 50 per cent of adults smoke.
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