Five thousand fake underpants will be given to charity after they were intercepted at Harwich port.

Essex Trading Standards officials on Wednesday seized the pairs of fake Wallace and Gromit, Homer Simpson and Tasmanian Devil underpants bound for market stalls across the country.

A container inspected during a routine check at Harwich International Port yielded the "extremely poor-quality fakes", which were manufactured in China and had £8 price tags.

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