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Burberry burned £28 million in clothing last year in order to avoid the high-end stock reaching the 'wrong people' - such as those wishing to make illegal copies.

The fashion house claim the excess clothes are destroyed to prevent pieces ending up on the 'grey market' - where illegal counterfeits can be sold at knockdown prices.

In the last five years, it's reported Burberry have burned around £90 million worth of clothing in a bid to protect their intellectual property, not to prevent customers accessing the clothes at a cheaper price.

Excess stock getting into the hands of those looking to create counterfeits de-values the brand.

The amount of clothing destroyed last year increased due to a one-off licensing deal for its beauty business with Coty.

However, Burberry, valued at £9.6 billion, claim their burning process is specially designed to harness energy produced, reports The Times.

Analysts suggest higher price points in China and south east Asia are the reason for a boom in excess stock.

(Image: Wireimage) (Image: Getty Images AsiaPac)

The luxury brand is best known for their trench coats, averaging around £1,450 with the cheapest ruck sack on offer is nearly £1,000.

Despite the burning of millions of pounds worth of clothing, Burberry defended their actions claiming it is in industry-wide practice.

High street giant H&M admit to burning surplus stock to help generate enough energy to power the Swedish city of Vastera.

Richemont, owner of upmarket Cartier and Montblanc, has destroyed more than £400 million of watches in two years after buying back unwanted stock from jewelers.

Brits binned around £12.5 billion of clothes last year, sending some 300,000 tonnes to landfills.

Burberry was founded in Basingstoke, Hants, by Thomas Burberry in 1856.

Thomas envisioned his world famous coats being worn by recognisable faces, and arranged for Lords Kitchener and Baden-Powell to each own one.

(Image: Publicity Picture)

Now the fashion giant has seen many famous faces model their clothing, including Romeo Beckham, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Cara Delevingne.

Stuart McClure, co-founder of Lovethesales.com, a website helping retailers sell on their lines before the end of the season, said: "Globally, 150 billion garments are produced and nearly half remain unsold - around 70 billion.

"This figure is staggering and represents a massive challenge for the retail industry.

"Retail fashion is an exceptionally difficult place to operate a business.

"It is a massive challenge for brands to estimate the volumes of stock they require, and to ensure it is sold through in season."

A spokesperson for Burberry said: "Burberry has careful processes in place to minimise the amount of excess stock we produce.

"On the occasions when disposal of products is necessary, we do so in a responsible manner and we continue to seek ways to reduce and revalue our waste.

"This is a core part of our Responsibility strategy to 2022 and we have forged partnerships and committed support to innovative organizations to help reach this goal.

"One example is our partnership with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Make Fashion Circular Initiative, where we join other leading organisations to work towards a circular fashion economy."