Shop closed after hundreds of illegal vapes seized

A closure order for Roman Express, in Loughborough, was issued on Monday

A shop found to be selling illegal tobacco and vapes has been ordered to close for four weeks.

Roman Express, in Church Gate, Loughborough, must close until 19 November under the terms of an order granted at Leicester Magistrates' Court on Monday.

The action came after an operation by Leicestershire County Council's Trading Standards officers and Leicestershire Police resulted in items being seized on three separate occasions between July and August.

A total of 313 packets of tobacco and 1,142 vapes were confiscated, the authority said.

A number of the vapes were being sold as containing no nicotine, but the county council said tests showed they did actually contain the substance and had been deliberately mislabelled in an attempt to bypass legislation.

Trading Standards officers also conducted an underage sales test purchase in August, when the young person was not only sold a vape without being challenged, but the vape was itself was illegal.

Hundreds of illegal vapes were seized during the operation

Gary Connors, head of Leicestershire Trading Standards service, said: "Illegal vapes and cigarettes are sourced from unregulated suppliers, which may make them more toxic than the legitimate ones.

"Previous tests on illegal vapes have found that they contain high levels of arsenic, lead and formaldehyde.

"An easy way to spot an illegal vape is the size of the tank that holds the e-liquid – a legal vape should be sold with a 2ml tank, which will give approximately 600 puffs, but the vape can also be sold with a 10ml refill.

"If there is no 2ml tank, then it is likely to be illegal."

In addition to the closure, the court also ordered the owner to pay costs of £900 to Leicestershire Police.

Anyone found to be in breach of the closure order will be liable for prosecution.

The business will be monitored if the premises reopens, the county council said.