TRADING standards watchdogs are investigating a shop which has opened in Manchester city centre where bargain hunters are handing over large amounts of cash for virtually-worthless goods.

The traders, going under the name City Electronics, advertise sales at which expensive goods like ipod music players, Playstation video games and digital cameras are on display and apparently up for grabs.

But when the shop in Market Street is full, traders close the doors and bombard the crowd for an hour with forceful sales patter until customers pay way over the odds for cheap goods they haven't even seen in the hope of getting a bargain.

A Manchester Evening News reporter went to a sale last week and after spending '65 to stay in the sale he emerged with a cheap throwaway camera, a pen and lighter set - and evidence that the traders are making thousands each week from trusting shoppers.

The salesmen, known only as Derek and Michael, took it in turns to hold the hour-long sales pitches.

After selling two or three inexpensive items like mobile phone hands free kits at knockdown prices, they invite shoppers to hand over cash - first '5 then a further '60 - to be allowed to stay in the sale, while a series of expensive goods, including computers, were displayed.

We visited twice and each time more than a dozen people handed over their cash.

Once the money was taken the goods on display changed and those who paid-up were offered only a camera, a set of two watches or a portable CD player.

None was on the table when the money was handed over, but shoppers picked one of them anyway, thinking they had found a bargain.

It was only when they left the store, past a burly security man and opened them up at home, that they got a chance to realise the goods they bought were virtually worthless.

Our reporter chose an expensive-looking camera, which was branded Olympia, using the same lettering as leading brand Olympus and had a '199.99 price tag on the box. A cheap pen and lighter set came as a free gift.

But when the M.E.N took the camera to reputable photography shop Jessops, on Deansgate, the camera was valued at no more than '5.

Rob Harvey, section manager at Jessops, said: "They're selling it because from a distance it looks the part, but it's really not worth anything."

Rachel Christie, head of Manchester City Council environmental service department which controls trading standards, said she had launched an inquiry into activities at the shop.

She said: "We are enforcing legislation to control the activities of the store. We have grave concerns about selling practices at the shop.

"Some of my colleagues have been there and we will keep the shop under investigation, but what they are doing seems legal as they are not taking bids."

The manager of the City Electronics store, who would not give his name, said: "There is no law in this land where you can be prosecuted simply for making a profit. We spoke to a trading standards officer who agreed that we were doing nothing illegal."

When we asked him about selling overpriced goods he said: "We're operating within the law."

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