Vape shop that flouted rules ordered to close again

The shop must be shut for three months, magistrates ordered

A shop that was caught repeatedly selling illegal tobacco products must close for three months after a council took action against it.

Reading Vape & Store in Oxford Road was ordered to shut by Reading magistrates earlier this month, Reading Council said.

A previous closure order ended earlier this year, but the business was again found to be selling counterfeit products.

The local authority's trading standards officers seized more than 115,000 cigarettes with an estimated street value of more than £80,000 between 2019 and 2024, when the shop traded under another name.

Other issues included selling counterfeit vapes and selling nicotine products to children.

The shop, then trading as Vape Shop, was subsequently closed for three months from November 2024.

The council continued to monitor it under its new name and issued it with a closure order on 22 July, with magistrates ordering the three-month closure on 1 August.

Karen Rowland, lead councillor for environmental services and community safety, said the business had shown "a complete disregard for the health and wellbeing of residents".

"This not only undercuts our legitimate retailers in Reading but also exploits vulnerable residents and increases the risk of smoking among young people," she said.

"Residents and businesses in the area are rightfully upset about the flagrant disregard for the law exhibited by this shop, and the council will continue to do all we can, within our powers, to thwart their efforts to operate outside the rules that everyone else follows."