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But unlike dog or cat fur, which cannot be sold in Britain, there is no ban.While the genuine boots made by UGG Australia use only sheepskin produced in a humane way, there is no such guarantee with the lookalikes. To lift the lid on the ugly underbelly of the UGG phenomena, we purchased ten pairs of boots marketed at British buyers on the high street and internet. Some were sold as genuine UGG Australia boots, others closely copied their design. In total they cost ￡1,133.16. The cheapest pair cost ￡14.99, the most expensive ￡280. The ten pairs were then examined by expert Dr Phil Greaves of Microtex, a textile fibre analysis laboratory in West Yorkshire, to see whether those sold as UGGs were real or fake. Then more testing was done to find what the boots were actually made of — with shocking results. As Dr Greaves explained, the genuine boots are made of sheepskin with natural wool attached.

‘Basically, you reverse the animal and have the wool as the lining and the suede outside,’ he says. But three of the ten pairs he analysed for us weren’t sheepskin at all and a further three pairs — sold as 100 per cent Australian Sheepskin — were trimmed with animal fur. So what did we discover? INTERNET FAKES Despite a crackdown on fraudulent websites selling cut-price UGGs, the internet remains a huge marketplace for counterfeit boots, with rogue traders going to great lengths to make sites look as legitimate as possible. Many are registering domain names with .co.uk at the end and use photography copied from the official UGG Australia site. My first port of call is a website that claims to be an accredited distributor of the boots. The UGG Australia logo is on display along with pictures of the classic styles I recognise from the official site. I order the Knightsbridge style in size 38 and ￡84 is debited from my account.

The boots arrive a month later, posted direct from China. There is an overpowering smell of chemicals when I open the box, but they appear to have genuine soles and the sheepskin feels soft. But analysis by Dr Greaves reveals the boots are a sandwich of three layers.womens ugg mini button bling gery There is real wool on the inside but there is also a hidden foam layer and cheap cattle suede on the exterior. Fakes! Attempts to order genuine UGGs from two more websites mysteriously fail at the checkout and then I receive several emails asking for direct payment via PayPal or Western Union, which I decline. I buy two more pairs of UGG Australia branded boots online. The first are from clearanceuggsoutlet.co.uk, which seems to be registered to a Cambridgeshire address, but the payment goes to a firm in China. I purchase the second pair, advertised as the real thing on uggbootsukonline.co.uk using PayPal. A month after these orders the UK Border Agency letter arrives — but no boots.

The Metropolitan Police’s e-crime unit believes gangs in Asia are making millions of pounds on web sales of fake UGGs. Since registering UGG Australia as a trademark in 2005, Deckers has the UK monopoly on the boots. As prices start at ￡175 for the classic short style, many consumers are still on the lookout for a cheaper alternative. And, according to Handley Brustad, joint lead officer in intellectual property for the Trading Standards Institute, there are still pockets of the High Street selling cheap imitations. After snapping up what turns out to be my only bargain — a pair of genuine UGG boots in the House of Fraser sale for ￡115 — I buy two pairs from High Street stores Internacionale and River Island. These do not bear the UGG label and are not sold as such, but have clearly been designed to look similar to the real thing. When I ask staff in Internacionale in Maidstone what the ￡14.99 boots are made of, they can’t enlighten me.

But Dr Greaves can. ‘These are made of synthetic materials. They are poor imitations and wouldn’t last a single outing in the rain,’ he says. The River Island pair, costing ￡30, are clearly marked as having a faux fur lining and tests show they have a cattle suede exterior. As a result, there are fears that, this winter, thousands of unsuspecting Britons may be fooled into buying imitation UGG boots made using pelts of animals skinned alive. Clearly, the counterfeiters are prepared to go to just about any lengths to maximize profits. Across China, underpaid workers are risking their health in tanneries and sweatshops, producing boots for sale to fashion lovers in the West as the real thing. Beware of cheap imitations: Real UGGs, left, are made in a humane way from sheepskin but the fakes, right, cannot promise the same Beware of cheap imitations: Real UGGs, left, are made in a humane way from sheepskin but the fakes, right, cannot promise the same.

I make my next purchase on eBay. According to Deckers’ website, UGG Australia does not authorise any of its official dealers to sell on eBay. Indeed, it advises customers to steer clear of auction sites altogether. But this is clearly having little impact — there are plenty of boots claiming to be genuine UGGs. I find myself in a frenzied bidding war for a classic chocolate pair. ‘There are lots of fakes but these are 100 per cent real — paid ￡200 for them,’ reassures the seller, claiming the boots have been worn, but are in excellent condition. I ‘win’ the boots for ￡78, plus ￡6.50 post and package. They arrive the following day in what appears to be an UGG box. But Dr Greaves confirms my suspicions these too are counterfeit. ‘Although the boots are made from sheepskin, they are of very poor quality,’ he says. ‘The boot is floppy and limp, the stitching is bad and the soles are inferior to the genuine UGG Australia boot.