Ealing Council is clamping down further on illegal sales of vapes to children as well as illegally made vapes as three retailers are now being investigated which could result in prosecutions.
In a test purchase exercise last month involving a 16-year-old, Ealing Council’s trading standards team visited 14 shops in Greenford, Ealing Broadway and West Ealing to see if retailers would refuse to sell the vapes. Of the 14 shops visited, 11 refused to sell the vapes while three of them sold to the 16-year-old.
Selling vapes, like tobacco products is illegal to anyone under 18.
The three shops, one in Greenford and two from Ealing are now being investigated by trading standards officers which could result in prosecutions to the shop owners.
According to trading standards, a large number of vapes which contained a tank capacity that exceeded the legal limit were seized from one retailer. They were branded as R & M Tornodo and each vape was equal to the nicotine content of around 233 cigarettes and didn’t meet statutory labelling and information requirements.
Last year, Ealing Council trading standards seized 18,000 illegal vapes in Southall.
Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, Ealing Council’s cabinet member for decent living incomes said “Although it is positive to see that most businesses were following the law and take their responsibilities seriously, this type of exercise shows that there is still work to do. For those who don’t act responsibly, let this be a warning. If you are tempted to break the law: you will be found out and we will always take the strongest possible action in response.”
Ealing Council is asking residents to contact trading standards if they have information on anyone selling vapes illegally by reporting it to: tradingstandards@ealing.gov.uk
