Detection dog Rookie sniffs out illegal vapes

Cocker spaniel Rookie, a tobacco detection dog, was brought in to help with a police and trading standards raid

A vape shop has been closed for a second time after a cache of illegal vapes, tobacco and cigarettes were discovered hidden inside a hydraulic lift.

Trading standards officers issued a closure order for Cloudy Vape Ltd, on High Street, Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, on 1 October.

The business had previously operated as New FONE UK which had been closed in March, Central Bedfordshire Council said.

Tobacco detection dog Rookie helped find hundreds of illicit items with an estimated street value of about £16,000.

During the search, officers found two secret compartments hidden in the kitchen, the council confirmed.

Councillor John Baker, the council's executive member for public protection, said: "The scale of concealment and repeated offending shows a blatant disregard for the law.

"Closure orders such as this send a strong message that we will not tolerate the sale of illicit tobacco and vapes in our communities."

Hidden compartments were found in the kitchen of the vape business

Trading standards officers worked with Bedfordshire Police, the council's licensing team and Specialist K9 Services to carry out the raid on 26 September, after three months of test purchases confirmed illegal sales.

It said that during the raid a staff member was violent, attempted to escape, assaulted an officer and was then detained.

The team then found two secret compartments in the kitchen, with large metal platforms, about the size of a dining table, that could be raised up from the basement using hydraulic lifts.

It said they were being used to hide illegal items "out of sight".

In total, 706 packets of cigarettes, 420 illegal vapes and 70 pouches of illicit tobacco were found.

Rookie, a cocker spaniel, used his nose to sniff out the illegal items

Magistrates in Luton granted a Section 80 Closure Order on 1 October. The shop would remain closed until 1 January, the council said.

It added that it would consider further action against the landlord.