THOUSANDS of suspected pirate DVDs and video games worth £50,000 were yesterday seized from a counterfeit business based in an Oxford home.

Police and Oxfordshire Trading Standards officers believe they have smashed one of the largest counterfeiting operations in the county after storming a house in Kestrel Crescent shortly after 7.15am yesterday.

They found a hoard of about 5,000 movies stacked in a shed at the bottom of the garden.

A 42-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion producing counterfeit DVDs and were last night being questioned by police.

Among the rows of suspected fake films, stacked in alphabetical order on 19 shelves, were titles including Kill Bill, Toy Story 3, Cemetery Junction and copies of Lee Evans Live.

About an hour later they found another 5,000 suspected counterfeit movies in the loft and between 200 and 300 video games in the house.

Last night, Sergeant Rob Axe, of the Blackbird Leys neighbourhood team, said a fake DVD could have a street value of between £2 and £5, with video games worth possibly double that.

He said: “We’ve found a well kitted-out operation with in excess of about 10,000 suspected counterfeit DVDs and numerous computer equipment. I would imagine it has been running for some time.

“I would anticipate that this is a substantial financial operation. It could be worth between £40,000 and £50,000.

“We would like to thank members of the public for informing us about this. They can be certain that this operation will now be closed down.”

Teams of police and trading standards officers spent several hours combing the semi-detached house, three cars and a van on the driveway, looking for evidence.

They bagged up all the DVDs and games as well as five computers and suspected film burning equipment found in the shed.

It was not clear where, how, or if the DVDs were being sold.

Last night, neighbours were shocked to see police in the road.

A 70-year-old neighbour in Kestrel Crescent said: “I was just waiting for the roofer to come and I saw all these police cars. I couldn’t believe it. I’m shocked. We have a few problems with the kids round here, but nothing like this.”

A 55-year-old man, also from Kestrel Crescent, spotted the officers as he went to work. He said: “I wondered what all that racket was this morning. you never know what goes on behind closed doors.”

Trading Standards enforcement officer Jacqui Turner said: “Because there is recording equipment as well it means it’s a lot more serious. The film industry could be being defrauded out of a lot of money.”