14 hours ago
Shop shut down after selling illegal vapes to children
Shop shut down after selling illegal vapes to children
The business kept selling illicit vapes and cigarettes even after getting caught
Inside Vape Land
(Image: Neath Port Talbot council )
A vape shop has been shut down after trading standards officers found it was selling illegal tobacco and vapes.
A district judge at Swansea Magistrates' Court approved Neath Port Talbot council's application for a closure order against Vape Land in Commercial Road in Taibach, Port Talbot. Council officers caught the business selling counterfeit and illicit (non-tax paid) tobacco and cigarettes as well as oversized vapes "on a number of occasions" since last June.
The council said a test purchase on June 12 last year revealed pouches of counterfeit Amber Leaf hand-rolling tobacco were being sold. And last August an inspection of the premises led to vapes, tobacco and cigarettes being seized.
The court heard further complaints were then received over the sale of non-compliant single-use vapes, cigarettes and tobacco — including to customers aged under 18.
In April this year, council and police officers raided the shop seizing vapes, cigarettes and tobacco. All the single-use vapes seized were found to contain far more fluid than allowed for such products.
The judge agreed to the closure order at a hearing on June 12 after hearing arguments from the council that unless the shop was closed the nuisance would not stop.
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The court heard the person who had been leasing the shop since April 2024 could not be traced. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here .
The sale and supply of disposable vapes became illegal across the UK on June 1. This ban — which applies to all businesses regardless of whether the vapes contain nicotine — is aimed at protecting children's health as well as stopping environmental damage from the littering of single-use vapes.
The Port Talbot closure order comes after a Swansea shopkeeper admitted eight criminal offences after WalesOnline caught him selling illegal cigarettes and vapes. Peshawa Zada, the 23-year-old owner of Bob Marley Vapes, is awaiting sentence.
A Neath Port Talbot council spokesperson said: "Non-compliant single use vapes of the type found at Vape Land are often in colourful, child-appealing packaging and flavours.
"The consequences to the mental health of the impressionable children purchasing these vapes can be long term and very serious."
The council's cabinet Member for nature, Cen Phillips, said: 'I commend our trading standards officers for achieving this closure order and I would urge anyone who cares about their community and their children's health to report any information they have relating to illegal tobacco or vape sales.'
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