10,000 illegal vapes seized over two years

More than 10,000 dodgy vapes have been seized in Gloucestershire over the last two years by Trading Standards.

Officers have seized 10,042 non-compliant disposable e-cigarettes since April 2021 mostly due to oversized tanks.

But vapes were also seized for failing to meet the legal labelling requirements.

None were found to be counterfeit and retailers were informed of the reasons why the items were seized and given advice on how to source a compliant product.

Any repeat offenders would face legal action, council chiefs said.

These figures came to light after Councillor David Willingham (LD, St Mark’s and St Peter’s) asked what was being done to tackle issues such as counterfeit vapes, e-cigarettes containing unlawfully high levels of nicotine and vapes containing or contaminated with toxic chemicals such as lead.

Fire, community safety and libraries cabinet member Dave Norman (C, Grange and Kingsway) provided the figures for yesterday’s (June 28) Gloucestershire County Council meeting and explained that the work of Trading Standards is regularly reported via the adult social care and scrutiny committee.

He said: “From this it can be seen that offices have been tackling sales of non-compliant disposable e-cigarettes for some time.

“As with all enforcement work undertaken by Trading Standards, this issue is addressed using an intelligence led approach, and an appropriate level of resources is allocated to this issue.

“Over the last two years (since April 2021), Trading Standards officers have seized 10,042 non-compliant disposable e-cigarettes; the majority due to oversized tanks but a small number due to failure to meet labelling requirements.

“Of these 10,042 items none were found to be counterfeit. Retailers are informed of the reason for seizure and given advice and guidance on sourcing compliant product. Legal proceedings would be considered for repeat breaches.”