A stash of pirate CDs and computer games were seized during a dawn raid by trading standards officers on Canvey.

More than £10,000 of computer equipment, compact discs, computer games and digital video discs (DVD) were seized in a joint operation by police and trading standards officers, from the house in Adelsburg Road yesterday.

PC Alex Gartshore, town beat officer for Canvey, said the team found the equipment after investigations into the home pirating ring.

He said: "It appears they had been copying games and videos using the equipment and then selling them on. The computer equipment alone was worth around £10,000. One man was arrested and bailed pending further inquiries.

"Our computer experts are studying the hardware. This raid and investigation was made possible thanks to the partnership work being done with legitimate computer companies who contribute towards our costs."

A trading standards' spokeswoman said: "This raid was the latest in our ongoing operation to crack down on computer piracy in Essex."

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.