A VAPE shop in Reading has been ordered to close for three months following repeated enforcement action from Council Trading Standards Officers.
Reading Magistrates Court granted a closure order on ‘Vape Shop’, situated at 462 Oxford Road, on November 20, meaning the premises must remain shut until February next year.
Trading under various names between 2019 and 2024, the council estimates that over 115,000 cigarettes have been seized from the business to date.
Despite its rebranding as Vape Shop, illegal trading activities continued.
Trading Standards received numerous complaints from concerned local parents and residents that children as young as 13 were being supplied with cigarettes and vapes.
In September Reading Trading Standards raided the premises on Oxford Road, in partnership with Thames Valley Police, and HM Revenue and Customers (HMRC) officers.
Sniffer dogs found illegal cigarettes hidden under the shop counter, in the walls, and behind a false shelf and a mirror.
Keys to a nearby car were found, known to be linked to the business, where officers discovered 20,000 cigarettes and 84 illegal electronic vapes stored.
Some products were found to falsely advertise a capacity of more than 15,000 puffs, more than 25 times the legal limit of nicotine strength and tank size under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations.
Despite the seizure of stock and its immediate temporary closure, the shop continued to sell illegal tobacco and vapes.
Two further seizures were conducted in September and October, and a closure notice was served on the premises “after exhausting alternative strategies.”
A Closure Order under Section 80 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 was enacted due to the extensive criminal activity and the public nuisance perpetrated by the Vape Shop.
Cllr Karen Rowland, lead Councillor for Environmental Services and Community Safety, said: “This is an excellent result, following several years of careful observation work by our Trading Standards officers, and I’d like to sincerely thank our partner organisations, Thames Valley Police, and HM Revenue and Customs, for their support during the operation.
“The business clearly had no consideration for the health and wellbeing of their customers in the community–they were simply running a dangerous business to undercut sales by legitimate shops in the area with the primary interest of lining their own pockets.”
She explained: “Anyone involved in the illegal tobacco trade is complicit in making it more attractive for children to start smoking, taking advantage of cash-strapped families, as well undermining our compliant traders in Reading.
“This business- and indeed any similar operations – need to be clear that such closures can and will happen again, should they attempt such detrimental activities in the future.
“Operations such as this have no place in our communities, and I would strongly urge anyone with information on shops such as this to report them which can be done so anonymously.”
Sources of illegal tobacco can be reported anonymously via the Illegal Tobacco Hotline by calling: 0300 999 6 999
