Shops closed after selling illegal tobacco and vapes

Four shops in Nottinghamshire have been forced to close after they were found selling illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The county council said £110,845 worth of tobacco products were seized by its trading standards team and Nottinghamshire Police during a series of raids.

The council's cabinet member for communities and public health, Jody Stoll, said the authority "will not tolerate this level of criminality."

"Illegal tobacco products pose a serious threat to public health and damage the local economy. Those who sell them undercut law-abiding traders and evade taxes that fund vital public services," he said.

The seizures included cigarettes and tobacco pouches with incorrect packaging and vapes which breached legal limits.

The council said 461 packs of cigarettes, 96 packets of tobacco and 1,064 non-compliant vapes were found hidden under the counter and concealed within the walls at Ezee Shop on High Road in Beeston, with an estimated value of £13,260.

More than £64,000 worth of illegal products, including 3,560 packs of cigarettes, were seized from Your Shop on Nottingham Road in Eastwood.

A further £15,375 worth were found at Hucknall Cloud on High Street in Hucknall, along with £18,040 worth at Bucharest Mini Market on Outram Street in Sutton-in-Ashfield.

The council said the shops continued to sell illegal products to both children and adults despite repeated warnings.

The closures have now been enforced by court orders which state the stores cannot open for three months, the authority said, during which time it will continue investigations against the business owners.

Stoll said the shops would also continue to be monitored once they reopen.

"If it's found they resume selling illegal tobacco products, we'll just repeat the whole process again, close them down and we'll keep doing that as long as necessary," he said.

He added the council relies on "intelligence from the community" about where illegal products are being sold.

"Sometimes it's whack-a-mole and we can see it's not just an issue here in Nottinghamshire, it's widespread throughout the entire country," he said.

People can anonymously report a business they believe to be selling unregulated products via the council's website.

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