London: They are an impulse holiday purchase about which many buyers later have second thoughts — the fake Louis Vuitton bags and Rolex watches picked up for a song abroad.

While shoppers are happy with the price, there are often nagging doubts about the quality and legality of the items — and who ends up profiting.

However, such worries are, it seems, over. An EU-funded report has declared that it is acceptable to buy fake designer goods.

The study, co-written by a British Home Office adviser, says consumers benefit from the market for knock-off designer clothes at knock-down prices.

It also rejects the complaints of designer companies, claiming that losses to the industry as a result of counterfeiting are vastly exaggerated because most of those who buy fakes would never pay for the real thing, and finding that the rip-off goods can actually promote their brands.

Law enforcement

The report adds that the police should not waste their time trying to stop the bootleggers. It disputes claims that the counterfeiting of designer brands is funding terrorism and organised crime, and argues there is little public appetite for tough law enforcement measures as consumers enjoy the bargains offered by the illegal trade, which has been estimated to be worth £1.3 billion (Dh7.3 billion) in Britain.

Professor David Wall, who co-authored the report and advises the government on crime, said the real cost to the industry from counterfeiting could be one fifth of this figure. "It's probably even less," he added.

"There is also evidence that it actually helps the brands, by quickening the fashion cycle and raising brand awareness. We should be focusing on the trade in counterfeit drugs, dodgy aircraft parts and other stuff that really causes public harm."

While British authorities target those who trade in fake goods, the government has decided against criminalising those who buy them. But tourists purchasing counterfeits in other countries can face prosecution.

In France, the maximum fine for buying fake goods is 300,000 euros (Dh1.4 million) or three years in jail. In Italy earlier this summer, a tourist was fined 1,000 euros for buying a fake Louis Vuitton bag for 7 euros from a vendor at the resort of Jesolo, near Venice.

Seizures

Holidaymakers also face having counterfeit purchases seized at ports and airports as they return to Britain, if they are detected by the UK Border Agency. According to the report, up to three million Britons every year buy counterfeit goods carrying one of the top designer labels, such as Louis Vuitton, Yves Saint Laurent, Burberry or Gucci.

Nearly a third of the sales are over the internet.

The quality of many of the fake goods has "improved greatly", the report, for the British Journal of Criminology, adds and argues it should be up to the industry to halt the trade. But police and leading designer brands quickly rejected the study's findings.

A spokesman for Louis Vuitton said: "The sale of counterfeit goods is a serious offence whose revenue funds criminal organisations at the expense of consumers, companies and governments."

A representative from Burberry added: "Counterfeiting is taken extremely seriously. Where a case is proved, Burberry will always push for the maximum penalty."

A spokesman for the Association of Chief Police Officers said: "Businesses, individuals and the public purse all suffer as a result of such activities."

On London's Oxford Street, The Sunday Telegraph found many shoppers in favour of fakes. Janet Sovegjarto and her daughter Hannah both had fake Louis Vuitton bags they bought on holiday on the Greek island of Rhodes, each costing 35 euros.

Hannah's bag is similar to a £1,000 bag by the designer. "I do love the bag. I don't think the real ones warrant the cost," said Sovegjarto, from Brighton. Her daughter, 19, added: "Most people think it's real."