Manchester City Council has used new powers to seize goods for the first time from a street trader allegedly trading illegally.

The trader, who was selling watches at the corner of Market Street and Piccadilly Gardens had his trolley and goods seized by Council officers on Thursday 24 June, and could now face prosecution.

The Manchester City Council Act 2010, which received Royal Assent in April, gave the Council extra powers to control people illegally street trading in busy shopping areas such as Market Street.

Councillor Nigel Murphy, Executive Member for Environment, said: “Illegal traders can cause obstructions on our busiest streets, sell shoddy and sometimes counterfeit or dangerous goods and undermine the efforts of legitimate traders.

“We have had public support for our efforts to remove them from the city’s streets where they are trading illegally but we have not been heavy-handed in our enforcement of this new legislation. We have taken a proportionate approach, detailed guidance has been handed out to traders explaining the legislation before we have started any enforcement action.

“This individual appears to have chosen to flout the rules and our clear message is that where it is appropriate we will not hesitate to use these new powers to protect our residents and legitimate traders.”

Confidential hopes this wasn’t heavy handed. There is an argument that street peddlars make the city scene more engaging, add variety, give it buzz. But clearly if counterfeit goods are being sold then this has to be acted upon. Still we hardly seem to have the same problem as the Mediterranean seaside resorts where every fake make of watch or perfume is for sale 24 hours a day.

The Manchester response here seems measured, let’s hope it continues in that vein.