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 magistrates earlier this month, Reading Borough Council said.

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

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 during that time period included selling nicotine products to children and counterfeit vapes.

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

The Berkshire council continued to monitor the store under its new name, issuing a closure order on 22 July before magistrates ordered the second 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."