Clampdown teams are busier than ever seizing illegal vapes from rogue traders – but other local authorities have seized nothing at all.
Our investigation found some councils are confiscating contraband and banning traders from selling vapes – while other councils are taking a less hands-on approach.
Trading standards teams must ensure shops only sell properly labelled vapes.
The vapes must be properly registered and only contain liquid within agreed limits – but some had twice the legal amount.
When councils receive tip-offs about shops selling things they shouldn’t be, they can inspect the premises.
They also go undercover and, with the help of underage volunteers, test if shops are selling things to under-18s.
Using freedom of information law, we asked five local authorities what they were doing to battle the scourge of illegal vapes after several council chiefs labelled them “worrying”.
Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Highland councils all seized items in the last five years, while Moray and Angus had not.
What’s Aberdeenshire Council done?
The council seized no vapes in 2020 or 2021 – during Covid restrictions – and then it seized 273 vapes in 2022.
Its officers confiscated 120 items in 2023 and there were 100 seizures in 2024, up until December 16.
The council gave the vapes to a third-party firm, which destroyed them.
Brands seized included Elfbar Vapes, Lost Mary Vapes and Crystal Vapes.
However, there is no suggestion that the producers of those companies have broken the law in any way.
The council didn’t reveal location information but did say it targeted an unlicensed seller in May.
Suppliers can sometimes be fined £200 or banned, but the council will not utilise either of those options this year.
What’s happening in Aberdeen?
The council seized no vapes in 2020 due to Covid-19 restrictions, but it did confiscate 175 in 2021 and 274 in 2022.
That fell to 63 in 2023.
However, the figure went up to 260 in 2024 – and the council revealed details of those seizures.
Its trading standards officers went to a shop in Aberdeen in April and seized 142 illegal vapes.
On the same day, they visited another store and took 11 illegal vapes away.
Four days later, the officers seized another eight vapes.
Then on November 29, officers went to another shop in Aberdeen and seized 99 illegal vapes.
Brands seized included: ENE Legend, ELUX LEGEND, Crystal Prime and OG Super Smash.
However, there is no suggestion that the producers of those companies have broken the law in any way.
Previously a council spokesman said: “Under UK law, the safe legal standard set for the capacity of an e-cigarette tank is 2ml.
“But many of those seized (in an operation in April this year) were more than double this, ranging from 5ml to 8.5ml.
“Products should also have the name and address of a UK contact.
Kids caught with vapes at primary schools
“But many of the products were missing this information along with essential instructions for use, and health and safety warnings.”
Of the vapes seized in the city this year, 153 were not compliant with the law, while 73 had incorrect packaging.
On four occasions this year, people voluntarily surrendered illegal vapes to the councils.
All the vapes seized were sent to a third-party service for destruction and recycling, the council said.
Previously, the council revealed that 26 vapes were confiscated from children at the city’s primary schools in 2021/22, followed by 20 more in 2022/23.
However, there have been no such incidents since.
‘Worrying rise’
Graeme Paton, Aberdeen City Council trading standards manager, said: “Our trading standards team is working hard to get these illegal products removed from shop shelves.
“They are protecting the health and wellbeing of Aberdeen consumers, and making sure that retailers and wholesalers are only selling legal vaping products.
“We are seeing a worrying rise in complaints about shops selling vaping products to under-18s.
“We’d like to remind all shops selling vapes to check they can be sold in the UK, and for people using them to check the capacity for an e-cigarette tank.
“And that if there are no statutory warnings or instructions, they should be aware these items will probably be illegal.”
Anyone spotting illegal vapes for sale or believing that a shop may be selling vaping products to under-18s should report the details to the Aberdeen City trading standards team at tradingstandards@aberdeencity.gov.uk.
What’s happening in the Highlands?
Highland Council officers have seized 3,303 illegal vapes since the start of 2020 and November 25 this year.
That included confiscating 1,000 from one shop alone in July 2023.
Its officers handed out five on-the-spot fines to rogue traders in 2019/20 because of vape sales.
They didn’t hand out any fines in the next two tax years but handed out five in 2023/23.
That figure grew to 21 in 2023/24 and officers issued 18 fines to rogue traders between the start of April this year and November 25.
And one particular case went beyond that.
In May, the council revealed how Inverness Sheriff Court had banned Adnan Abbas from selling vapes from two shops for 15 months.
The council said Mr Abbas owns two shops in Inverness – Vapecing on Inglis Street and Wow Mobile on Lombard Street.
This was due to the shop selling vapes to underage customers.
Mr Abbas had previously been given four on-the-spot fines.
A council spokesman said: “Vapes are generally seized due to the contents or labelling but seizures can also be linked to underage sales.
Kids as mystery shoppers
“Since last summer, our trading standards team has carried out 109 visits to businesses selling vapes, carried out 55 test purchases and seized just under 2,000 illegal vapes.
“Formal actions taken include 14 fixed-penalty fines being issued for underage sales, along with a number of formal warnings and one civil court order being granted.
“Fixed penalty fines are issued, these start at £200 but increase for repeat offenders.”
The council said it had uncovered “worrying” findings from a recent undercover operation in Skye, Easter Ross, Inverness, Badenoch and Strathspey.
It arranged for 52 volunteer under-18s to go into shops to see if they get served – and 13 did.
The council’s trading standards manager David MacKenzie said: “It is extremely disappointing that one in three retail premises sold vapes to our young volunteers.
“We will always take firm action against those that flout these important public protection and child safety laws.
“This includes issuing fixed-penalty fines and ultimately applying to the sheriff court for a banning order.”
You can ask the team for advice by emailing trading.standards@highland.gov.uk
What’s happening in Moray?
We asked Moray Council why it had not seized any vapes in the last five years.
A Moray Council spokeswoman said: “Our trading standards’ approach is to advise businesses to remove vapes that do not comply with the relevant safety legislation from sale.
“This approach was established when our team started inspecting single-use vapes as part of a national trading standards project from 2021.
“Every retailer in Moray that sold vapes was visited.
“Rather than seize the significant amount that did not comply with the relevant safety legislation, businesses were advised to remove them from sale and return them to their suppliers, as per the national project protocol.”
What’s happening in Angus?
We asked Angus Council why it had not seized any vapes in the last five years.
A council spokesman said: “The majority of complaints Angus Council trading standards receives concerning the sale of tobacco products – including vapes – relate to the sale of illicit or counterfeit tobacco products and the sale of vapes to underage children.
“Accordingly, we concentrate our resources on the seizure of illicit tobacco products – working in partnership with HMRC – and in undertaking covert underage test purchasing of vapes.
“Test purchases are followed up with repeat visits in line with our enforcement policy.
“Any intelligence relating to non-compliant products in Angus would be investigated and acted upon.”