Tooting shop fined heavily for selling vapes, alcohol to children

A south London shop which sold booze and vapes to children twice has been fined nearly £7,000.

Lavender Hill Magistrates Court imposed the fine on World Superstore Limited on March 26 after the business pleaded guilty at  to four offences covering the underage sale and oversized vapes. The company claimed it was doing all it could to prevent underage sales but could not provide any evidence of written training records, said council officials.

It also stated it had no idea of the rules governing vapes, despite the law being introduced in 2016.

According to recent reports, World Superstore Limited on Tooting’s Mitcham Road, lost its licence to sell alcohol in February 2023 after it was caught selling alcohol and vapes to children who were wearing school uniform.

‌But just weeks later in June, it was again caught selling vapes to children as part of a trading standards undercover sting, with the shop selling vapes to a 15-year-old.

Trading Standards officers also found numerous illegal single use vapes on sale at the shop. ‌They discovered 181 oversized vapes which contained nicotine beyond the legal limit of 2ml, which equates to about 600 “drags” or “puffs”.

The vapes’ packaging stated amounts of up to 14ml of nicotine or 3,500 puffs – equating to seven times the legal limit.

The store has been ordered to pay £3,500 in fines and £3,377 in prosecution costs, including the cost to dispose of the harmful vapes.

James Armitage, of Wandsworth Council’s Trading Standards, said, “The owners of this business had not learned the lesson of their previous brush with the law on underage sales which cost them their drinks licence.

“The law is very clear regarding the ban on selling vapes to young people under 18. We are pleased that the court recognised the seriousness of this case and imposed a hefty financial penalty. We hope this serves as a warning to other shops and businesses of the need to pay proper attention to the law and avoid selling very harmful products to children.”