Revealed: Four vape shops are closed a week in Britain for breaking the law

Published: 23:42, 25 May 2026 | Updated: 23:42, 25 May 2026 Vape shops that flout the law are being shut by the courts at a rate of four a week. Trading Standards departments can ask magistrates to grant closure orders for up to three months when stores are found guilty of under-age sales or selling products which might contain excessive or undeclared nicotine. The Daily Mail sent Freedom of Information requests to departments across the country and 96 - about half - responded, revealing orders were obtained against 102 shops last year. That equates to around 200 a year, or four a week, assuming the same pattern from departments that did not reply.  The most active authority for closures was the Heart of South West Trading Standards area, which includes Devon and Somerset.  It obtained orders closing 13 vape stores last year. In Newcastle, 12 stores were shut, while 11 Swansea stores were closed. Among them was World Vape Shop, which was shut down in September. Officers returned after it re-opened in January and found illegal vapes and tobacco worth more than £40,000. Earlier this month shopworker Many Shahabi Kirimi, 23, pleaded guilty at Newport Crown Court to fraud, trademark, and tobacco regulation offences.  Yellow Express in Braintree, Essex, was closed down for three months after selling illegal tobacco and vapes to children Earlier this month shopworker Many Shahabi Kirimi, 23, pleaded guilty at Newport Crown Court to fraud, trademark, and tobacco regulation offences The Iranian national, who entered the UK illegally in 2021 and has previous convictions for similar offences, was jailed for two years. Judge Geraint Walters said: 'The sale of counterfeit cigarettes and illegal vapes is becoming a scourge within our communities.' A repeat-offender was the Yellow Express shop in Witham, Essex, which was ordered to close after Trading Standards carried out 'multiple seizures of illicit tobacco and non-compliant vapes in significant quantities'.  Half of local authorities that replied to the Daily Mail revealed they had issued 1,180 warnings, cautions or fixed penalty notices to vape shops last year. A total of 433 shops failed under-age vape test purchases and 98 were prosecuted for illegal vape sales.  The true figures are likely to be double that when the authorities that did not respond are taken into account.  The findings also show the struggles of Trading Standards departments, such as the Dorset watchdog that did not carry out any under-age vape test purchases in 2025. John Herriman, chief executive of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, has called on the Home Office to urgently review the powers and resources available to Trading Standards officers. No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.