North Wales council seizes illegal vapes from 29 premises - but no prosecutions made
A council trading standards team seized illegal vapes from 29 premises over two years.
The information was released following an application under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, which revealed that no businesses were prosecuted, despite the seizures.
According to the FOI application, Denbighshire County Council visited 59 premises in 2023, catching 15 shops selling illegal vaping products, and visited 30 premises in 2024 when 14 shops also had their products seized.
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But in the same FOI, Denbighshire revealed it had not sought a single prosecution.
When asked the value of illegal vaping products seized, Denbighshire County Council said: This would be impossible to calculate – due to the wide variety of vape types, makes, styles.'
Denbighshire said illegal vapes were recycled after regional collections. . Sign up for the North Wales Live newsletter sent twice daily to your inbox.
In relation to the cost of disposing of illegal vapes, the council said: '(There is) No direct cost to DCC as (the recycling is) funded through project work and coordinated by another authority.'
In February this year, an industry-led report (Riot Labs) revealed that two illegal vapes were seized every minute in 2024, with almost £9m worth of illegal products removed from UK streets.
Illegal vapes are dangerous, unregulated devices with unknown ingredients or much higher nicotine levels which can pose serious risks to health
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