THEY used a York car boot sale as the base of operations for their rogue trading – now a shamed couple are waiting to learn their fate after being caught selling dodgy designer clothes.

Paramijit Singh and Surinder Kaur aimed to line their pockets by flogging fake top-name clothing– which included brand names and designer labels such as Armani, Diesel, Playboy, Nike and Timberland.

Their array of fake garments had a value of more than £38,000.

But their scam was uncovered when trading standards teams swooped on their criminal enterprise at Rufforth car boot sale and found thousands of items of counterfeit clothing.

Magistrates decided the case was so serious that the pair, both 45, and from Bradford, could only be dealt with by a Crown Court judge.

They were exposed through an investigation by City of York Council’s trading standards department last October, which found them at the popular Rufforth site with 2,655 items worth £38,062.

At their court appearance, Singh said: “We are ashamed and we plead guilty.

“We are very, very sorry. We have never been in trouble before – we don’t want to be in trouble. We are actually very respectable people.”

He also told the court he had turned to dodgy-dealing in 2007 after he was made redundant in order to support his family.

“I hang my head in shame – I will never do it again,” Singh said.

Colin Rumford, head of the council’s trading standards department – which prosecuted Singh and Kaur – said officers, together with police teams, had been scouring the market on October 12 last year looking for traders hawking pirated goods.

He said they spotted “various designer labels” on Singh and Kaur’s stall and became suspicious. A police officer then made a test purchase and confirmed the items were counterfeit.

The pair were arrested and taken to Fulford police station where they both admitted their guilt and said they had been selling counterfeit goods for two years.

The couple will face their fate at York Crown Court next month, where they could face a hefty fine or even a jail sentence.