Illegal vapes worth £30k seized from shop as warning issued

Mar 29, 2023

The shop was also caught selling a disposable e-cigarette to a 16-year-old in February

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A haul of illegal vapes and e-liquids worth more than £30,000 have been seized from a St Helens shop.

Last week St Helens Borough Council's Trading Standards seized around 1,700 illegal disposable e-cigarettes from a town centre vape shop, which cannot be named for legal reasons, along with over 900 bottles of e-liquids. Trading Standards had warned the shop back in 2022 but the business continued to sell non-compliant products, resulting in products being seized from the shop last year.

The shop has continued to sell these illegal e-cigarettes, with the watchdogs being alerted by a member of the public that the shop was selling Prime e-liquids, following the craze for Prime Hydration drinks.

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The business also sold a disposable e-cigarette to a 16-year-old in February 2023 when tested by Trading Standards working with Merseyside Police, despite having been provided with advice on age-restricted products in January.

Following the seizure of illicit goods, St Helens Borough Council's Trading Standards are warning retailers to ensure all disposable e-cigarettes, e-liquids and vaping devices they sell meet UK legal requirements. The majority of the disposable products seized contained oversized tanks, the capacities varying between 3,500 and 9,000 puffs. In terms of nicotine, one normal cigarette is the equivalent of about 12.5 puffs, making a 3,500-puff e-cigarette that costs only £13 the equivalent of around 280 cigarettes.

A recent survey looking at attitudes and behaviours towards drinking, smoking, vaping, and knives amongst 14–17-year-olds conducted on behalf of Trading Standards North West found that in St Helens one in seven young people now claim to vape regularly, while 52% say they have tried vaping, but not a cigarette.

The UK legal limit on nicotine in disposable e-cigarettes is no more than 2% (20mg/ml) and must not exceed 2ml in capacity – around 600 ‘puffs’. Additionally, these products can only be sold to people aged 18 and above.

Councillor Kate Groucutt, Cabinet Member for Inclusive Economy, Business and Skills said: "While it is recognised that vaping and e-cigarettes are a useful tool to assist adults wanting to quit smoking, it is a concern that we have local businesses selling illegal products and that e-cigarettes are being sold to teenagers under 18. Our Trading Standards officers work hard to protect the public and will continue to use local intelligence to identify and take robust action against businesses that are selling illegal products."