The UK Film Council calls today for a register of car-boot and market traders and renewed efforts to stop new films being leaked from post-production houses, to counter film piracy.

The government-backed organisation's anti-piracy taskforce says traders dealing in DVDs and videos should be required to register their names, addresses and vehicle licence details with trading standards officers 21 days before they hold a sale.

The most notoriously shoddy pirate activity - pointing a camcorder at a cinema screen - should be made a criminal offence.

Sales of legitimate DVDs and videos generated £2.9bn last year, but illegal copies of feature films continue to blight the industry. Pirate features are sold at an estimated 7,000 places in Britain, primarily unlicensed market stalls, computer fairs and car boot sales.

The Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) seized 314,000 illegal videos and DVDs in 2001; the figure almost doubled to 607,000 in 2002 and rose to nearly 2m last year.

The Motion Picture Association estimates that 36m pirate DVDs were sold in Britain last year, compared with 145m legitimate sales.

Fact says the consequent loss of retail revenue by the film industry in 2002 was £400m, excluding home copying and internet piracy.

The film council's report acknowledges that one of the biggest problems is within the industry: leaks from post-production houses and critics' copies falling into the wrong hands.