Seizure of 2,500 illegal vape pens worth £17,500

Vape pens should only be bought from reputable retailers, trading standards said

About 2,500 illegal disposable vape pens with an estimated value of £17,500 have been seized.

Luton Council Trading Standards and Bedfordshire Police raided a premises in the Bury Park area of the town and also found shisha tobacco being decanted into unlabelled plastic pots for sale.

A campaign had been launched to prosecute people selling illegal vapes and tobacco with 11,000 seized so far.

Hazel Simmons, leader of Luton Council, said items such as illegal vape pens were "often linked to wider organised criminal activity".

The council said the illegal vape products were more dangerous than regulated vaping devices and tobacco.

Items were often being sold to school children and under-18s, the authority said.

Ms Simmons added: "The sale of illicit vape pens and tobacco evades tax and is unfair to honest traders."

The building was raided on 9 May.