Hundreds of shops have been warned of the dangers of selling counterfeit alcohol after a woman bought a bottle of vodka which tasted like nail polish remover.
The woman bought the fake Glen's vodka from a shop in Melton and contacted police after she tasted it and realised it was counterfeit.
Police alerted the trading standards team at Leicestershire County Council, who visited the shop and seized a number of other bottles of the same product.
They analysed samples and found they contained a toxic chemical called Ter-Butanol, which can make people sick if ingested.
The bottle's labels also contained a number of spelling mistakes, including "botteled" and "D-rink".
Now, the team has written to the 400-plus shops in Leicestershire licensed to sell alcohol to warn them against buying from unscrupulous counterfeiters who go door-to-door selling potentially dangerous products.
The Melton shopkeeper, who is under investigation, has told trading standards he did not take any details from the man who sold him the vodka.
Keith Regan, trading standards operations manager, said it was vital retailers make some attempt to identify door-to-door sellers before refusing to buy from them.
He said: "The retailers can take registration numbers of vans these sellers are in.
"They can also give us descriptions of these shop-to-shop sellers. The important thing is we get the information we need to catch these people.
"It just happened we picked up these bottles in Melton. They could be anywhere in the county.
"This is not a cottage industry, it's organised crime and is happening all the time.
"There is organised manufacturing of these products in big industrial units or rented barns in isolated locations."
Trading standards urged members of the public to be on the look-out for tell-tale signs of illegally produced alcohol, including labels which contain spelling errors or are creased or wonky.
David Bull, head of trading standards, said: "The sale of fake products is not only a crime but, as in this case, can put the safety of the public at risk. We're calling on consumers to check the labels on similar products as fake brands usually contain spelling errors.
"Retailers should always buy supplies from trusted businesses so invoices can be used to trace the supply chain."
Councillor Joe Orson, the county council's cabinet member for trading standards, said: "Our teams do an excellent job in ensuring people are protected from the sale of fake and dangerous products and that law-abiding businesses are not subject to unfair competition from rogue traders."
Call the Citizens Advice helpline on 03454 04 05 06, or Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111 or trading standards at:
tradingstandards@leics.gov.uk
