Trading Standard officers of London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham (H&F) have seized more than £100,000 worth of illegal vapes in the last four years.
As reported by the council last week, the H&F enforcement team has confiscated 12,263 illicit vapes with a total value of £106,236 since April 2021. In the past seven months alone, nearly £24,000 of vapes have been seized. We do this to help keep local people safe.
Seizures skyrocketed since 2021 as H&F removes potentially toxic and over-strength vapes from local high streets.
"It's up to shopkeepers to comply with the law," warned Doug Love from H&F Trading Standards.
Even after the disposable vape ban that came into effect on June 1, some shop owners have been slow to make the switch to only selling refillable and rechargeable vapes, stated the H&F's authority.
"Ultimately it can lead to the prosecution of shopkeepers, with courts able to shut down businesses for up to three months via closure orders if the sale is deemed likely to cause antisocial behaviour. It can also lead to shops losing premises licences," states the council.
A series of national raids, codenamed Operation Machinize 2, has targeted 2,700 shops in the past six months, with 924 arrests and £10.7million worth of illegal goods, including vapes and tobacco, seized.
It has led to 450 businesses being investigated by Companies House.
Rachael Herbert, director of the National Crime Agency's economic crime unit, said: "Depriving criminals of their source of income has a real impact, limiting the amount of funds they can reinvest in further offending, and deterring them from taking spaces on our high street that could be used by legitimate businesses."
Last year, the recycling group Material Focus calculated that 5,000,000 single-use vapes were thrown away every week in the UK, many containing substances such as lead and mercury which pollute rivers and soil and can harm wildlife.