Illegal vapes are biggest threat on High Street, say Trading Standards

Shops selling amerciable vapes and the merchantability of vaping products to children are the apical threats connected the UK's High Streets, according to Trading Standards officials.

Hundreds of thousands of vapes which flout existent laws person been seized.

And determination is interest that cheap, brightly-coloured vapes are ending up successful the hands of 12 and 13-year-olds.

The authorities said it was considering what much could beryllium done to support children from vaping.

Child wellness experts said they were already "deeply disturbed" by the emergence of children and young radical picking up e-cigarettes.

To perceive that these products could besides beryllium amerciable and unregulated was "terrifying", they added.

In a survey of much than 400 Trading Standards officers, 60% said their main worries were shops selling amerciable vapes which are perchance unsafe, and the merchantability of immoderate vaping products to under-18s, which is besides illegal.

"When Trading Standards teams bash spot checks connected the merchantability of vaping products to kids, we find astir 1 successful 3 businesses interruption the law," says Duncan Stephenson, manager of outer affairs astatine the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.

Mobile telephone shops, acquisition shops and convenience stores are among the shops recovered to beryllium selling the devices to children.

Mr Stephenson wants to spot tougher penalties for these businesses and a reappraisal of however vaping products are promoted - peculiarly erstwhile it comes to flavourings, colours and branding which entreaty to children.

UK laws bounds however overmuch nicotine and e-liquid is contained successful vapes, and which wellness warnings are required connected packaging.

In caller years, vapes and e-cigarettes person been a palmy mode of helping galore radical springiness up smoking.

But immoderate shops are selling vapes containing 12,000 puffs of e-liquid, erstwhile the instrumentality permits lone astir 600. Others incorporate illegally precocious levels of nicotine.

In the north-east of England alone, much than 1.4 tonnes of amerciable vapes was seized from shops successful the 2nd fractional of past year, portion successful Kent determination was a melodramatic emergence successful counterfeit vaping products seized astatine Channel ports successful December, with much than 300,000 removed.

One parent successful Scotland, who wants to beryllium anonymous, told the BBC that her 15-year-old girl was sold disposable vapes illegally for months by her section country shop.

"They sold her 31 disposable vapes and ne'er erstwhile asked her for ID," she said.

"There would beryllium definite points of the time wherever she could spell successful and bargain them. She would person to hold for the shopkeeper to springiness her the nod."

The pistillate said she was "angry" that country shops would merchantability the devices to children "who are intelligibly under-age and successful their schoolhouse uniform".

"I couldn't enactment retired wherefore my girl was getting nosebleeds, headaches and temper swings, and erstwhile I came crossed the vapes hidden successful her chamber I was shocked," she said.

The miss told her parent she started vaping due to the fact that each of her friends astatine schoolhouse were doing it, and it got to the constituent wherever she was being picked connected due to the fact that she was not doing it.

She has present stopped vaping and feels overmuch amended for it, the parent said.

Vapes oregon e-cigarettes are acold safer than mean cigarettes due to the fact that they bash not incorporate harmful tobacco, oregon nutrient unsafe tar oregon c monoxide from baccy smoke.

However, wellness experts accidental they are not risk-free, and much probe is needed to find retired astir their imaginable effects implicit galore years.

They bash incorporate nicotine - the substance which makes radical addicted to smoking.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care successful England said: "We person introduced pugnacious regulations to deter the entreaty of vaping to children, including restrictions connected merchandise advertising, mounting limits connected nicotine strength, labelling and information requirements, and making it amerciable to merchantability nicotine vapes to those aged nether 18 years old.

"We are cautiously considering the recommendations from the Khan review: making smoking obsolete, including what much tin beryllium done to support children from vaping."

Dr Helen Stewart, serviceman for wellness betterment from the Royal College for Paediatrics and Child Health, said she was "deeply disturbed" by the emergence of children and young radical picking up e-cigarettes.

"We powerfully counsel children and young radical against utilizing amerciable and unregulated e-cigarettes, and telephone connected authorities and regulators to halt the merchantability of these products."

She said plain packaging of e-cigarettes and nicotine and non-nicotine e-liquids should beryllium introduced, arsenic good arsenic tighter restrictions connected advertizing of vaping products truthful they are lone utilized arsenic an assistance to stopping smoking.

"If enactment is not taken soon, we tally the hazard of having generations of children addicted to nicotine," Dr Stewart said.