Newsagents ordered to shut as raid uncovers £15k in illegal vapes hidden in crisp boxes

Nov 27, 2023

The Linthorpe Road newsagents has been banned from trading for three months following a court ruling

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A newsagents has been forced to shut down after it was caught selling illegal vapes.

Johns News on Linthorpe Road in Middlesbrough has been banned from trading for three months following a ruling by Teesside Magistrates Court. This comes after a visit from Middlesbrough Council Trading Standards uncovered more than £15,000 worth of non-compliant vapes hidden in numerous places around the shop.

There were 1,285 non-compliant vapes found when officers visited the shop on April 21 after receiving complaints that the store had been selling vapes to underage children. The substantial haul was found hidden in crisp boxes, inside a bin, under cardboard and even inside a bed frame.

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All of the products the officers discovered contained illegal quantities of nicotine, some of which were labelled as containing 0% nicotine, despite containing the drug. Some of the vapes contained between four and ten thousand puffs, while all failed to comply with product labelling laws including a lack of necessary health warnings.

On Monday, June 6, at Teesside Magistrates Court, District Judge Marie Mallon ordered a three-month closure of the store and ordered its operator Harpreet Singh to pay £1,500 towards the council's costs. The order could possibly be extended once the initial three month order is complete.

Judith Hedgley, Middlesbrough Council's Head of Public Protection, said: "All tobacco products, e-cigarettes and vape products must comply with stringent tobacco control laws, including a limit on nicotine content and tank size, as well as complying with packaging and labelling requirements.

"Devices offering more than approximately 650 puffs are generally illegal - the vast majority of those found at John's News were labelled as offering between 4,000 and 10,000 puffs. A 3,500-puff vape is the same as smoking around 280 cigarettes."

Crime and antisocial behaviour laws give the Council powers to deal decisively with retailers who engage in criminal activities or cause nuisance to the local community. A closure order requires a premises that has been found to be used for such activities to close and remain closed for three months, which could be extended by a court for a further three months.

Mrs Hedgley added: "Our Trading Standards team is proactively checking businesses that sell vapes to check that they are only selling legitimate products and that they are not selling nicotine-containing vapes to anyone under 18.

"Any business that is found to have sold illicit vapes or any nicotine-containing vapes to young people could be prosecuted and/or closure orders issued to prevent crime and anti-social behaviour."

Middlesbrough Mayor Chris Cooke, Executive member for Public Protection, said: "E-cigarettes, or nicotine-containing vapes, can and do help smokers to quit so swapping from smoking to vaping is a positive health move. However the recreational use of nicotine vapes, especially by young people, is becoming a real concern.

"Recent reports are showing that unsafe, illegal vapes, which we are now seeing being offered in our communities, particularly to young people, can contain chemicals like lead and nickel, which damage the central nervous system and affect brain development.

"Most vapes contain nicotine, which is addictive and young people who use vapes are more likely to become smokers in the future. Selling non-compliant vapes and selling vapes containing nicotine to young people is illegal, immoral and totally unacceptable."

Anyone who has concerns or information about the sale of illicit tobacco products, or the sale of vapes to young people, can contact Trading Standards in confidence on 01642 728223.