Closed - vape shop shut down for selling illicit cigarettes

A vape shop in Stockton has been shut down for sales of illicit cigarettes and vapes.

Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council secured the three-month closure order of Teesside Vape Shop, on Bishopton Lane, at Teesside Magistrates' Court yesterday (Wednesday, 27 November).

The Court heard that Council Trading Standards officers first visited the premises in October 2024 to inspect the shop and to give staff advice on vape legislation.

Officers searched the property and seized 100 vapes which did not adhere to regulations.

Whilst there, officers also witnessed customers trying to buy illicit cigarettes despite there being nothing on display to indicate tobacco products were available for purchase.

Two test purchases were subsequently carried out that confirmed illicit cigarettes were indeed being sold at the shop.

During another search of the premises with a tobacco detection dog earlier this month, officers seized 4,690 cigarettes, 29 pouches (1.45kg) of hand rolling tobacco and 127 vapes from a concealed area of the shop.

All the seized products failed to adhere to regulations and did not have the correct labelling or packaging. Some vapes also contained well above the maximum legal capacity of 2ml liquid nicotine.

Councillor Norma Stephenson, the Council's Cabinet Member for Access, Communities and Community Safety, said: "Illicit cigarettes, tobacco and vapes are very dangerous because it is so difficult to know exactly what they contain.

"I'm pleased our Trading Standards officers have been able to secure this closure order with the support of Cleveland Police - it shows that we take the sale of illegal and counterfeit cigarettes and vapes seriously and will continue to close down shops selling illegal products."

Inspector Matt Reeves, from Stockton's neighbourhood policing team, said: "Illicit cigarettes and vapes can not only cause serious harm to people's health but they can also be associated or linked to serious and organised crime.

"This is a great example of acting on information received and then working with our partners to combat the issue which was a concern to our local community.

"I hope the positive result provides reassurance to members of the public that we and our partners will act on intelligence that is reported and encourage people to keep getting touch no matter how small you think the piece of information may be."

This work was carried out as part of Operation Cece, which is run in partnership with the National Trading Standards and HMRC to help tackle the sales of illicit tobacco.

Lord Michael Bichard, Chair, National Trading Standards, said: "The trade in illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law. Having removed 46 million illegal cigarettes, 12,600kg of hand rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale, Operation CeCe, the National Trading Standards initiative in partnership with HMRC continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade."

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