Imperial scales confiscated LESS than a week after the EU ruled that he could continue selling in pounds and ounces, Woodford Green market trader, Colin Hunt, has had his scales confiscated. Mr Hunt, from Woodside Road, runs a fruit and veg stall in Hackney and has been involved in a running battle with the council since being convicted in 2000 of failing to display prices in kilograms. On September 7 an inspector from Hackney trading standards office came to his stall and told him he had five days to replace his imperial scales with their metric equivalents, but Mr Hunt thought the heat was off after a ruling from the European Union that left decisions over the use of imperial measures to individual governments.

On Saturday, however, his luck ran out when two trading standards officers turned up at his stall and impounded the scales.

He said: "I was gobsmacked. I couldn't believe it, why should they even want to come down again. They came with two police officers and I said haven't you got anything better to do but they were quite rude and it was so petty."

Hackney Council cabinet member for neighbourhoods, Cllr Alan Laing, said: "Traders are still legally required to physically use metric scales. There has been no change in the law in that aspect. Hackney trading standards officers have been informing market traders of the legal requirement to use metric scales predominantly for several years and traders who refuse to use metric scales will be subject to enforcement action.
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"Imperial measurements may be used in addition to metric, so long as they are not more prominent."

source: www.guardian-series.co.uk