The wrecked caravan beneath a human waste pipe where a £20-a-day counterfeit street spotter may have lived

A new police drive to smash Cheetham Hill's notorious counterfeit trade has uncovered a dilapidated caravan covered in human faeces where an officer believes gangs could have housed a £20-a-day 'spotter'.

The caravan was found behind a gated compound. It was crudely connected to an electricity supply and it was parked under a human waste pipe.

Gob-smacked officers watched in horror as someone flushed the toilet in the adjacent building and waste poured onto the roof of the caravan, which was covered in faeces.

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Clothing was found inside and a senior police officer believes the caravan was used to house one of the 'spotters' employed to look out for cops or trading standards officials.

The counterfeiters are exploiting people with 'questionable immigration status' and paying them £20-a-day to work as spotters around Cheetham Hill's notorious counterfeit street, according to the senior detective tasked with smashing the area's notorious trade in fakes.

Det Supt Neil Blackwood told the M.E.N: "I would suggest they are being exploited. Would I stand out in the cold on a street corner for £20-a-day? No. Is it a decent living wage? No. They are being exploited largely because they are not allowed to work. People recognise that and give them what they believe is fair."

He went on that some of the people they came across 'are not telling us an honest account' as they had taken part in the counterfeit trade.

"But we do know they have questionable immigration status. It's a question for the Home Office but we are coming across people we believe are working here and don't have a right to work here in the UK because of their