A cash and carry owner who repeatedly sold fake alcohol must pay almost £3,000.

Rajandram Yasotharan, who owns Mollison Way Food and Wine in Edgware, was prosecuted by Harrow Trading Standards for the second time.

He was fined £1,500 and ordered to pay £1,250 in legal costs.

HMRC joined trading standards officers on an inspection of the business in June 2014 that revealed ten bottles of counterfeit vodka.

When samples were examined for alcohol content, the contents of the bottles were found to contain 29.9 per cent alcohol rather than the 37.5 per cent listed on the label.

They also found the labelling on the bottles was not genuine, with poor quality printing, artwork and typeface.

They seized more than 2000l of alcohol and 1.7kg of tobacco on which no tax or duty had been paid.

When interviewed in October 2014, Yasotharan claimed to have brought the vodka from a store in Kingsbury that was closing down.

He said he paid in cash and had no proof of the purchase.

In 2012, the shopkeeper was prosecuted for three charges of selling fake wine and fined £1,000 with£750 costs.

Councillor Varsha Parmar, who is responsible for community safety at Harrow Borough Council, said: “I am appalled that this rogue trader has yet again put customers at potential risk by selling counterfeit alcohol. He failed to show proof of purchase or pay duty and tax on alcohol and cigarettes which is unfair to other businesses who trade legitimately in the area.

“I hope this sends a strong message to other individuals and businesses that it is not ok to operate in this way. We have a strong partnership with Trading Standards and HMRC and will continue to crack down on this type of activity.”