Undercover filming shows disposable vapes being illegally sold in Wales despite ban

ITV News

4 days ago

More than 1,000 disposable vapes have been seized across Wales despite it being illegal to sell them, an ITV Cymru Wales investigation has found.
Data gathered from Freedom of Information requests and local authorities show that 1,383 single-use vapes have been seized by trading standards departments across Wales since the ban came in two months ago.
Since 1 June this year, the Environmental Protection (Single-use Vapes) (Wales) Regulations 2024 make it a criminal offence to supply a single-use vape in Wales.
Trading Standards in Anglesey have seized the most at 430, followed by Cardiff at 323, and Rhondda Cynon Taf in third with 242.
Secret filming footage shows our journalists were able to buy disposable vapes at five shops in just one postcode district of Cardiff.
At the first shop, we were looking at the display on the outside, when a member of staff told us not to look there as not all of the flavours were displayed.
We went inside and asked a second member of staff: 'Do you have any Lost Marys or Elf Bars?"
The shop assistant showed us the selection and we picked out which flavours we wanted.
We asked: 'These aren't the ones you have to fill up?'
She said: 'No, for one time use.'
She sold us a Lost Mary Berry Apple Peach flavour which was also past its expiry date and an Elf Bar Lemon Lime, which was actually legal and reusable, although she told us it was for one-time use.
We left the shop and walked around the corner to another business.
There were disposable Lost Mary vapes on display. We asked the shop assistant: 'Can I have a Lost Mary please?'
He took it out of the display case to sell. We asked: ' That's the one I don't have to fill up, isn't it?' He responded: 'That's the old one.'
He sold us a Lost Mary Berry Apple Peach flavour, which is disposable.
At two other shops on the same street, we were able to buy disposable vapes.
At one, there weren't any disposable vapes on display, but when we asked for a specific brand, the shop assistant went into a back room and brought back a cardboard box full of single-use vapes for us to choose from. Both the vapes he sold us were also past their expiry date.
At the other shop, the assistant sold us a vape he claimed was re-fillable, but it is in fact a single-use product.
We got back in the car and drove to another street, around 10 minutes away.
When we got there, we asked a shop assistant: 'Can I get a Cola Lost Mary please?'
The assistant took it down from the shelf for us. We asked: 'Have you got to refill those ones?' He said: 'No.'
We clarified: 'One time?' He said: 'Disposable.'
He sold us a 'LAST MARY' Cola Vape, instead of the well-known Lost Mary brand. This product also had no expiry date. He also sold us an Elf Bar Elfturbo Ice vape which expired on 4 October, 2024 .
ITV Wales has contacted all the businesses that sold us disposable vapes for a response, but none replied.
There is no suggestion that any of the manufacturers like Lost Mary or Elfbar have committed a crime by making these products. Disposable vapes are legal to sell in many countries, including Portugal, Greece, Italy and Germany.
It's a problem which is taking up unprecedented amounts of time, says Judith Parry, the manager at Rhondda Cynon Taf Trading Standards.
"It is a massive problem," she says. "It's probably been taking 60 to 80 percent of our time over the past couple of years, it's probably come down since the single-use vapes ban came in, but we're still getting quite a wide amount of seizures.
"I can't remember a time when something was taking up so much of our time for a prolonged period."
But the task isn't as simple as it looks, she says.
"Once you're in there it's not just going in and seeing them on the shelves and taking them, but it's having a good look for where they might be concealed. We go in with detection dogs as well which can sniff out the vapes so we can find where they're being hidden, but sometimes they're using adjoining premises, or hiding them in vehicles.
"Some retailers are buying re-usable vapes now, but maybe not stock rotating so they've still got disposables on the back of their shelves. So those businesses we might give a warning to, seize the vapes, and destroy them.
"But at others, some have been found in concealments in the back of shops. Hidden using hydraulic opening mechanisms, so those are the premises that know exactly what they're doing, and they're the ones we'd like to see some action taken against. That might be a closure order if we have sufficient evidence or taking them to court for prosecution."
She admits it's a battle trading standards will have a hard time winning.
"As quick as we're seizing them, they're re-stocking, unfortunately," she says.
"It's too big a task. Next year we should get the tobacco and vapes bill enabled and that will help a little bit more. Hopefully we'll have more strings to our bow to go and take action."