'Children getting addicted to nicotine very young'

Baxter College in Kidderminster installed vaping sensors in a crackdown on student vaping

A head teacher has said students seemed to be "constantly thinking about when they could have their next vape during lessons" before his school installed vaping sensors.

Matt Carpenter, head teacher at Baxter College in Kidderminster, told BBC Radio 5 Live vaping was a "huge part of youth culture".

The head teacher said the government's proposed ban on disposable vapes was a "big step forward".

However, he said: "It's going to take a significant amount of resource to stamp it out."

Vapes confiscated from pupils were tested in a laboratory and found to contain high levels of lead, nickel and chromium

Reacting to the government's announcement on disposable vapes, Mr Carpenter said: "It's good to hear children were put at the centre of the decision.

"It still remains an issue in the population of young people, so I think it's a really positive step forwards."

While acknowledging the benefits of a proposed ban, the head teacher added the "massive majority" of the vapes confiscated from students at Baxter College were illegal.

Vapes confiscated from pupils at the Kidderminster school were tested in a laboratory, and found to contain high levels of lead, nickel and chromium.

The results showed children using them could be inhaling more than twice the daily safe amount of lead, and nine times the safe amount of nickel.

High levels of lead exposure in children can affect the central nervous system and brain development, according to the World Health Organization.

David Lawson, co-founder of the Inter Scientific laboratory where the vapes were tested, said: "None of these should be on the market - they break all the rules on permitted levels of metal.

"They are the worst set of results I've ever seen."

'Addicted to nicotine'

Mr Carpenter said vaping was still "very much part of youth culture"

Baxter College has spent £4,000 on installing sensors in its toilets to crack down on pupils vaping.

Mr Carpenter said there had been a "substantial reduction" in student vaping since the sensors and CCTV cameras were installed at the school, but said some pupils were still bringing vapes in.

"It's still very much part of youth culture and I think it's that addiction to nicotine that's the real issue," he said.

"I think a lot of children are getting addicted to nicotine very young."

One Baxter College student told BBC Radio 5 Live last year he had been vaping since the age of 12 after a Year 11 student asked if he wanted to try it.

"Ever since then, I keep doing it," he said.

"I wake up in the morning, first thing I do, go on my vape, then as soon as I get back, go on my vape."