Staffordshire raids uncover illegal vapes and tobacco products

The illegal goods were found at four shops, the county council said

Illegal vapes, tobacco and banned imported food worth almost £40,000 have been seized by trading standards officials.

They were found during raids at two shops in Stafford and two in Stone.

Staffordshire County Council said the officers, supported by dogs and Staffordshire Police, found 2,221 illegal and oversized vapes.

They also found 3.29kg of illegal tobacco, 15,420 cigarettes and 169 items of illegal food.

"Teams are also seeing a huge increase in the availability of oversized and illegal vapes, many of which are targeted at children," councillor Victoria Wilson said.

Ch Insp Giles Parsons warned some illegal vapes "can be dangerous to use and in some cases are made using toxic substances".

Since April 2023, Staffordshire Trading Standards said it has seized 13,171 disposable vapes, almost 90,000 cigarettes and more than 20kg of hand rolling tobacco.

It said the overall seizures had a retail value of about £245,000.