A COMPANY importing a product which it was claimed helped slimmers lose weight while they slept has been fined £10,000 in a prosecution brought by North Yorkshire consumer watchdogs.

Now - following the action against Essentially Yours Industries Ltd, which has offices in London and operates from North America - North Yorkshire trading standards are urging customers duped by any slimming scam to blow the whistle.

In addition to the fine, Essentially Yours Industries was ordered to pay £1,800 costs at Teesside Crown Court. The firm admitted making a false claim under the Trades Descriptions Act.

The company imported a product called Colorad in large quantities and distributed it through agents across the UK.

It was claimed that the product was "a product for life which would make you lose fat and inches while you sleep". The product sold for almost £60 a half -litre bottle.

But trading standards officers exposed the supposedly revolutionary substance as "little more than flavoured water with virtually no nutritional value whatsoever".

The prosecution follows a case at Richmond Magistrates Court in which local distributors Gillian and Stuart Prescott, of Harrogate, were convicted under food labelling law of distributing a product with false claims. They were each originally fined £3,500 with £300 costs but the fines were reduced to £500 each on appeal in May.

Stuart Pudney, head of North Yorkshire trading standards, said: "Preying on people who are desperate to lose weight is a particularly despicable practice. Time after time we see this type of activity, but surprisingly we get few complaints from customers.

"All too often the purchasers are so desperate to lose weight that they will try anything and if it does not work then they merely shrug their shoulders and either blame themselves or say it is one of those things.

"It is because purchasers don't complain enough that the market is open to unscrupulous dealers.

"Purchasers who feel that they have been misled by this type of product shouldn't hesitate to let us know so we can investigate."

Mr Pudney said trading standards had prosecuted other false weight claims in the past and was currently investigating a major national fraud involving thousands of consumers and a large London-based business.