Fake vodka blinds student

A British student has warned of the dangers of drinking counterfeit alcohol after a bottle of cut-price vodka left her with damaged eyesight.

Sheffield University student Lauren Platts, 21, bought a cheap bottle of what she thought was vodka, for £5.99 (€7.16).

But after consuming about a third of a bottle mixed with lemonade she spent the next two days unable to get out of bed and became violently ill, and is still having problems with her sight two months later.

The trade in fake vodka is a rapidly growing illegal industry that is helping criminal gangs avoid paying alcohol duty.