Five Newcastle shops caught selling vapes to children as £50,877 of counterfeit items seized

Five Newcastle shops are facing prosecution after an undercover police investigation found they were found selling cigarettes and vapes to children.

On Friday, July 26, plain clothes officers and police cadets visited five different stores in Benwell, Elswick, Fenham and Scotswood. They were acting on concerns raised in local communities about the number of vapes being sold to children.

Five shops who sold items to police cadets will now be prosecuted. Officers also seized 33,261 counterfeit cigarettes, 131 pouches of hand-rolling tobacco and 999 illegal vapes from the shops concerned - with the total cost of items seized estimated at £50,877.

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Inspector Patrick Hannon of Northumbria Police, who led the operation, said that the crackdown had come amid a worrying rise in vaping among young people. He said: "Retailers should be aware that it is a criminal offence to sell nicotine-based e-cigarettes to under 18s and investigations will continue into the people and businesses who sold the products to our underage volunteers."

Inspector Hannon confirmed that there will be further test purchasing operations through the summer holidays. He added: "The law is there for a reason and no responsible retailers should be selling these items to those who are not old enough to buy them.

"Thank you to those in our communities who have reported their concerns to us so that we could target this type of activity and in turn keep more of our young people safe from coming into contact with these harmful items."

It is expected that Trading Standards will look to prosecute the shops involved. Inspector Hannon added: "We also want the public to be aware that we will simply not tolerate the sale of counterfeit and illegal items in licensed premises in our communities.

"These items might seem harmless to many people, and they are often cheaper to buy than legitimate goods, but we often see their sale linked to wider types of offending and, often, serious and organised crime. All cigarettes are harmful to your health and vapes can assist people to quit smoking, but by purchasing non-compliant goods, buyers are also putting themselves at greater risk."

Northumbria Police encouraged anyone who wanted to report suspicious activity in their community to do so by sending a direct message to their social media accounts or by using the live chat on the Force's website.