Liverpool City Council reports bumper seizure of illegal cigarettes, vapes

Liverpool City Council’s Alcohol and Tobacco Unit, working alongside Merseyside Police, have seized £5000 worth of illicit vape products and 3000 counterfeit cigarettes worth £6000 this week.

The products were seized from a shop in Walton Vale as part Operation Delilah, a national day tackling the supply of illicit tobacco and vaping products.

The seizure follows the approval of a Tobacco Control Strategy at this week’s Cabinet meeting, which will enable the Council’s Public Health team to use the Local Stop Smoking Services and funding from the Office of Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID) to scale up the numbers who successfully quit smoking in Liverpool.

A further two shops in Liverpool– Happy Convenience Store in Old Swan and Daily Mini Market in Tuebrook – have also been closed due to these sales and disposure of the seized products continues at pace. In the last month, the team have disposed of 450kg of vapes from shops across Liverpool. The vapes are recycled by a Manchester based contractor that has been authorised by Trading Standards North West to recycle these products.

Matt Ashton, Director of Public Health at Liverpool City Council, said,“The work we are doing on illicit vapes sends a clear message to other retailers in our city who are trading in illegal products.

"While genuine vaping products continue to provide a viable alternative for those who want to quit smoking, the guidance remains that these should always be sourced from reputable retailers and if you don’t smoke already, don’t start vaping.”