Wolverhampton shop could have licence revoked after illegal vapes and cigarettes seized
A general store in Wolverhampton could lose its licence after trading standards bosses seized a stash of illegal vapes and cigarettes.
Officers visited Family Shopper in Wood End Road, Wednesfield, on September 28 last year, after receiving two complaints alleging the store was selling and displaying oversized counterfeit e-cigarettes.
During a check of the premises, trading standards uncovered 878 illegal vapes and 660 illegal cigarettes. These were voluntarily surrendered during the inspection.
In a report to the council, senior trading standards officer Stefan Polatajko – who applied for a premises licence review on October 10 – said: "The vapes that were displayed for sale on the counter clearly stated that they were 4,000 and 9,000 puffs each.
"Regulations state that vapes must not be sold with a nicotine tank exceeding two millilitres in volume. This applies to both disposable and refillable vapes.
"Generally speaking, any vape that contains more than 600 puffs is likely to have a tank capacity greater than that allowed by UK regulations, and as such creates a criminal offence. In this case, the tank capacity has been exceeded not just slightly but several fold compared to the capacity which is permissible by law.
"The cigarettes included well-known brands Kings, on which no UK duty had been paid, and Marlboro Red which were suspected to be counterfeit. In addition, they were not in plain packaging and had incorrect health warnings.
