TRADING Standards Officers believe Crewe is the base for a fake millennium champagne operation.

Magnum bottles of 'Bollinger' are being offered for the bargain prize of £15.

They contain a perry with an alcohol content of 8 per cent instead of the genuine bubbly which would cost around £50.

"Tricksters have steamed off the labels on the perry bottles and substituted one sporting the words Champagne Millennium Bollinger Special Cuvee, with 12 per cent alcohol by volume," said a Trading Standards Department spokesman.

The fake bottles have been turning up all over Cheshire including Chester and Winsford.

If anyone has information about the fake champagne they are asked to contact the local Trading Standards office.

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