Nearly 1,400 illegal vapes seized in Staffordshire raids

Four shops in and around Newcastle-under-Lyme were targeted

Almost 1,400 illegal vapes have been seized during raids in Staffordshire.

Trading standards targeted four shops in and around Newcastle-under-Lyme on Monday, after receiving intelligence about oversized illegal e-cigarettes and also selling to under-18s.

Over 8,000 illegal products have been seized in the county so far this year, compared to about 9,500 last year.

The government is currently considering a ban on disposable vapes, as more young people take up the habit.

A total of 1,397 illegal vapes were seized, all single use, with a retail value of more than £18,000.

Further investigations will be carried out and officers said they had the power to prosecute.

At one premises, more than 560 were seized, with 450 at another of the sites.

Laura Burgess, from trading standards, said vaping "has been a growing trend"

Laura Burgess, from trading standards in the county, said: "The legal limit is 2ml, which equates to around 600 puffs.

"With... [one] particular product we can see it's got a capacity of 14ml and it's also being displayed as 7,000 puffs."

Calls for bans on cheaper disposable vapes have been growing as more young people take up the habit.

The Welsh government has called on the UK government to prohibit the single-use vapes, saying it needs to be "part of a suite of measures to address youth vaping".

Officials in Westminster are actively looking for ways to reduce the numbers of young people buying and using vapes.

More than 8,000 illegal products have been seized in the county so far this year

Ms Burgess said: "Vaping has been a growing trend and we've seen that it's gaining in popularity in terms of young people.

"We're seeing more product that's coming on to the market place, particularly those that are quite child-appealing, so they use lots of bright colours. They're using lots of different flavours."