Loughborough shop which sold illegal vapes and tobacco shut down for four weeks

Roman Express, in Church Gate, must close until 19 November under the terms of an order granted at Leicester Magistrates Court on Monday 21 October.

The closure application was made after Trading Standards officers and police seized illegal tobacco and vapes from the business on three separate occasions between July and August 2024, which resulted in 313 packets of tobacco and 1,142 vapes being confiscated.

A number of the vapes were being sold as containing no nicotine, but it was discovered following tests that they did contain nicotine and had been deliberately mislabelled, in an attempt to bypass legislation contained in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

Large posters explaining that the business has been closed down due to illegal activity on the premises have been posted on the shop’s windows by Trading Standards officers.

Gary Connors, head of Leicestershire Trading Standards service, said: “Our Trading Standards officers are actively tackling the trade in illegal cigarettes and illicit vapes, which help to fund criminality. 

“Roman Express also sold an illegal vape to a person under 18.  Working in partnership with Leicestershire Police, we will use all means at our disposal to disrupt those who seek to put our local community at a public health risk. The business will close for four weeks, and thereafter will be monitored if the premises reopen for business.

“Selling cheap or illicit cigarettes steals trade from our legitimate retailers who lose trade to rogue shopkeepers.   All smoking is dangerous, but smoking illegal tobacco could potentially be even more harmful to health because the trade in counterfeit and illicit tobacco is unregulated, so there is no control over what is mixed with the tobacco. 

“Illegal vapes and cigarettes are sourced from unregulated suppliers, which may make them more toxic than the legitimate ones.   Previous tests on illegal vapes have found that they contain high levels of arsenic, lead and formaldehyde. Legitimate vapes will be registered with the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency, and legal products can be viewed on their website.

“An easy way to spot an illegal vape is the size of the tank that holds the e-liquid – a legal vape should be sold with a 2ml tank, which will give approximately 600 puffs, but the vape can also be sold with a 10ml refill. If there is no 2ml tank, then it is likely to be illegal.

“We will continue to clamp down on the sale of illicit cigarettes and vapes, as well as underage sales, to protect Leicestershire residents from traders who break the law.

“We really appreciate members of the public reporting suspicions of illicit or cheap vapes and tobacco sales.”