Thousands of bottles of potentially deadly fake vodka have been found on sale across Britain ahead of New Year celebrations this week.

Illegal vodka is sometimes made with chemicals found in anti-freeze and car windscreen wash and partygoers are being warned that criminal gangs are looking to exploit increased demand for alcohol over the festive period.

A number of seizures have taken place across the country in recent weeks.
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The accuracy of fake labels varied: Some had fake ‘duty paid’ stickers to disguise their illicit nature, while others had labels that included spelling mistakes.

“Commonly used substitutes for ethanol include chemicals used in cleaning fluids, nail polish remover and automobile screen wash, as well as methanol and isopropanol which are used in antifreeze and some fuels,” Drinkaware’s Chief Medical Advisor Professor Paul Wallace explained in a statement on the group’s website.

“These other types of alcohol can produce similar effects to ethanol in terms of making you feel tipsy. But they are also potentially very dangerous.”

In 2011 a man was convicted of using methylated spirits and bleach to manufacture 165,000 bottles of fake Glen’s vodka believes to be unfit for human consumption.

The gang which manufactured the vodka used bleach to remove the purple colouring of the methylated spirits and then diluted the product to required strength.