Four men have been arrested in Thamesmead, London, following the discovery of a ‘factory’ making counterfeit DVDs worth hundreds of thousands of pounds.

It happened around 12.30 pm, Wednesday 4 January. Two Bexley Police officers were walking down Redbourne Road, Thamesmead, when they saw two men coming out of one of the houses. Believing there was something suspicious about their behaviour, the officers spoke to the men and noticed another man open the front door and then close it again quickly.

The officers called for back up; also police dogs and police helicopter attended to help search the area as other men were seen leaving the house through the back garden. The men are being questioned at a south London police station.

Inside the house, a town-style house on three floors, officers found an estimated number of 30,000 discs, which would sell for £3 to £5 on the street. The contents of the discs include recently released films still on general release and pornographic material.

There was also equipment capable of burning over 1000 DVDs in one hour and an assortment of other equipment for copying and packaging DVDs.

DS Nigel Tolson of Bexley CID said: “There is no doubt that this ordinary three bedroomed house in a quiet street was being run as an illegal operation. Thanks to the sharp eyes and alertness of three police constables, this operation has been uncovered and closed down.”

Kieron Sharp, Director General of the Federation Against Copyright Theft said: "This was a major factory and its discovery will cause some serious disruption to piracy in the London area. Film piracy has proven links to organised crime and the scale of this operation shows the level of investment by criminal networks in this type of crime."

Story filed 04.01.07