Shops ordered to close after selling illegal vapes

Counterfeit tobacco products and vapes were seized as part of the investigation, police said

Three shops in Lincolnshire have been issued with closure orders after they were found selling illegal cigarettes and vapes.

The orders were imposed for Dubai Market and Best for 1 in Boston, and PhD Market in Lincoln, on 3 October at Lincoln Magistrates' Court.

Lincolnshire Police said the orders were needed to prevent further criminal activity on the premises.

Counterfeit tobacco products and vapes were also seized from the retailers as part of a joint operation with trading standards, the force added.

'Flout the law'

Officers from the local neighbourhood policing team in Boston said residents had expressed concerns about the products being sold and the anti-social behaviour associated with the premises.

Insp Dan Gilmore, who is based in Lincoln, added that this was the 14th closure in the city in the last 12 months.

"If the shops continue to flout the law, we will continue to work to close them down," he said.

Andy Wright, principal trading standards officer, added that sellers of these goods were "extremely persistent".

Premises selling counterfeit goods often employed people with no legal right to work in the UK, who in some cases had "been trafficked and coerced into criminality", he added.

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