I visited Northampton town centre and found a lot of shops selling illegal vapes

One Northampton shopkeeper recently told the Chronicle and Echo that selling illegal vapes is a lucrative business, raking in thousands of pounds, with many products allegedly sold to younger people. They added that some shops, when advertising illegal vapes, would have empty display boxes to avoid having their supplies seized by authorities.

This newspaper took a walk around Northampton town centre this week to investigate these concerns.

In under an hour, this reporter found that seven out of the 10 or so shops visited were selling vapes with 9,000 puffs or higher.

Any vape device exceeding 6,000 puffs is illegal in the UK and EU under Tobacco Products Directive (TPD) regulations. These regulations are designed to protect people from excessive nicotine intake and ensure vape products are safe to use.

Some shops had them brazenly on display while others would provide a menu or reach under the counter.

One shop, which was raided by West Northants Council (WNC) last week, was displaying 9,000-puff vapes in its shop window despite a recent visit from the council.

Trading Standards, whose remit is to deal with these issues, has been notified and contacted for comment via WNC.

Cllr Matt Golby, WNC’s Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, Public Health and Regulatory Services recently said: “West Northamptonshire Council 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.”

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 the growing trend of vaping among teenagers in the UK, 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 through colours, flavours, cartoons, and other marketing methods aimed at enticing children towards addiction.”

Chronicle and Echo found that all of the vapes were colourful in their marketing, similar to how sweets are marketed.

Professor Sir Chris Whitty, Chief Medical Officer for England, has previously stated: “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.”