UK’s hotspots for illegal vapes revealed by local authorities

The information request, put in by Vape Club, the online retailer, found more than 1.5 million illegal vapes were confiscated in 2023.

Greater Manchester reported that 347 sellers were caught with illegal vapes during the year.

Both Bolton and Rochdale are in the top five local areas in the UK for the most sellers caught with illegal vaping products.

In London, more than 250,000 vapes were seized from the boroughs, including the City of London.

The seizures in London made up a fifth of the UK total.

Westminster had the highest number of identified cases of sellers in possession of illegal vapes at 520.

However, the Vape Club report said that under 1% of sellers caught stocking or selling illegal vapes in London were fined.

Outside London, slightly more fines were issued but even so only one in 20 of the 2,871 sellers found to be stocking or selling illegal vapes had fines or penalties issued.

The fines were also less than some would like. Dan Marchant, director at Vape Club, said: “Currently, the maximum fine that can be handed out is £2,500 but in reality the fines given out are much, much lower.

“We completely welcome the move to allow trading standards to issue on-the-spot fines, but we would like to see those fines increased to at least £10,000 and increase the fine for repeat offenders.

“The best deterrent for any crime is the likelihood of being caught and right now that is incredibly low, and rogue retailers are taking full advantage of this.

“We have to create an environment where there is much more chance of being caught.”

The data obtained also highlighted the role airports and seaports are playing as hotspots of illegal vape sales.

The top three regions in 2023 with the most illegal vapes seized all had major import hubs nearby.

These were Kent (281,133 vapes seized) with the port of Dover; the London borough of Hillingdon (224,454) with Heathrow Airport; and Manchester (154,434), with Manchester Airport.

How to spot an illegal vape

There are tell-tale signs of illegal vaping products to look out for:

• Volume of e-liquid is over 2ml (not including refillable disposables)
• Nicotine level is higher than 20mg/ml
• Poor quality packaging with low-resolution photos or labels
• Packaging doesn’t show required nicotine warnings
• Packaging doesn’t display a full ingredient list. These should be visible with allergens highlighted
• No authentication code, or a photocopied fake in its place
• Device name or labelling in a foreign language