Vape shop in Northampton town centre RAIDED: 550 illegal vapes seized following investigation by this newspaper

Concerns were raised with this newspaper about a shop in the town centre selling illegal vapes and also allegedly selling to underage children, usually at 3.30pm when school finishes.

Upon visiting the shop on Wednesday (October 9) to follow up on these concerns, we found it openly advertising dozens of illegal 9,000-puff vapes in its window, directly facing the busy town centre street.

Any vape device exceeding 6,000 puffs is illegal in the UK and EU under Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) regulations. The regulations in place are designed to protect people from taking in too much nicotine and to make sure vape products are safe to use.

One member of the public said they had tried to contact West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) trading standards department multiple times but had been "ignored".

However, when this newspaper contacted trading standards on Thursday (October 7), just a few hours later, the shop was reportedly raided by Trading Standards, and 550 illegal vapes were seized.

Councillor Matt Golby, West Northamptonshire Council’s (WNC) man in charge of public health, said: “WNC Trading Standards responds to all complaints received about the sale of illegal vapes. The service carries out regular planned inspections, often with the support of Northamptonshire Police. On Wednesday (October 9), over 550 illegal disposable vapes were seized from a premises in Northampton, and appropriate action will be taken in line with the council’s enforcement policy.”

This newspaper visited the shop again on Tuesday (October 15) and found that, despite a visit from Trading Standards last week, they were once again brazenly advertising 9,000-puff vapes in their shop window. We also saw many other shops doing the same.

WNC has been contacted once more for comment.

The UK government is increasingly alarmed by the rise in vaping among children and young people. A recent survey revealed that the use of disposable vapes among 11 to 17-year-olds skyrocketed from 7.7% in 2021 to 69% in 2023.

To address these trends, the government is enacting stricter regulations on the sale and marketing of vaping products, especially those targeting younger audiences. Their website states: “Marketing vapes to children is utterly unacceptable. Some are now clearly trying to addict children including with colours, flavours, cartoons and other marketing methods aiming to tempt children towards addiction.”

Professor Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, has previously said: “Vaping can be an effective tool in helping smokers to quit, but we have seen a recent and highly concerning surge in the number of children vaping.”