TWO men from Trowbridge and Warminster who sold counterfeit items on Facebook selling sites have avoided jail.

Douglas Rose, Warminster, and Michaela Ehlers, Trowbridge, were sentenced at Swindon Magistrates Court on Tuesday after pleading guilty to eight offences under the Trade Marks Act 1994.

Trading Standards officers received anonymous complaints that Rose and Ehlers were selling counterfeit items on Facebook selling sites using an account set up in a fictitious name.

Despite being warned by Trading Standards, they continued to do this.

Wiltshire Police and Trading Standards searched their former Trowbridge address, after obtaining a warrant, and counterfeit footwear were found in a garden shed, a car boot and bedroom cupboards. The pair were given a 12-month community order with 70 hours unpaid work and were ordered to pay £520 in costs, each, to Wiltshire Council.