{"id":67102,"date":"2025-09-12T10:46:39","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T09:46:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/?p=67102"},"modified":"2025-09-12T15:58:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T14:58:10","slug":"six-more-shops-closed-for-peddling-illegal-tobacco-and-vapes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.devon.gov.uk\/news\/six-more-shops-closed-for-peddling-illegal-tobacco-and-vapes\/","title":{"rendered":"Six more shops closed for peddling illegal tobacco and vapes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Evidence collected by our trading standards service has led to six more shops being closed for peddling illegal tobacco and vapes, the highest numbers of closures of its kind ever seen in Devon on a single day.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following a hearing at Plymouth Magistrates Court on Thursday September 11, four shops in Torquay and two in Paignton were ordered to shut up shop for three months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The closures followed a major operation by our Heart of the South West Trading Standards and Devon and Cornwall Police and have halted the sale of illegal tobacco products collectively valued across the six stores at between \u00a3360,000 and \u00a3540,000 a month.*<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The closures follows the closure of four shops in Torquay and one in Honiton in July and two closures in Exmouth in June.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each closure is the result of a continued partnership working between police and trading standards to stamp out the sale of illegal tobacco products in the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The three-month closure orders can be extended if necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each closure followed an application by police supported by evidence from trading standards, including details of failed test purchases and seizures of illegal products following inspections.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each shop tried to conceal the illegal goods, such as a hidden area above a light fitting in the shop\u2019s toilet, but in each case the stashes were found thanks to the help of specialist detection dogs such as Rio.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shops closures are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Milano Mini Market, 42 Tor Hill Road, Torquay, TQ2 5RF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheeto Market, 105 Union Street, Torquay, TQ1 3DW<\/p>\n\n\n\n

International Mini Market, 102 Union Street, Torquay, TQ2 5PY<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mist Market, 27 Fleet Street, Torquay, TQ1 1BB<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Blueberry Store, 24a Torbay Road, Paignton, TQ4 6AF<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Laz One Shop, 310 Torquay Road, Paignton, TQ3 2DZ<\/p>\n\n\n

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Alex Fry, Operations Manager for Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service, said: <\/p><\/div>\r\n \t\t

\u201cThis joint operation will have severely disrupted the illegal tobacco trade in the area. The sale of illegal tobacco harms children as they are able to buy tobacco for pocket money prices and it encourages them to take up the habit.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to work with our partners in Devon and Cornwall Police to act on intelligence to target unscrupulous sellers.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\n\n

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Councillor Simon Clist, our Cabinet Member for Trading Standards said: <\/p><\/div>\r\n \t\t

\u201cI want to congratulate our hard working, professional and diligent trading standards officers who worked tirelessly to gather the evidence needed to close these unscrupulous business and stamp out this criminality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese stores were harming other businesses because they were undercutting legitimate traders who play by the rules.<\/p>\n

\u201cI also want to thank our partners in the police for this success, it was a real joint effort.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n

\r\n\t
\r\n\t\t\"Councillor\r\n
\r\n Councillor Simon Clist, Cabinet Member for Assets and Resources<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n <\/figure>\r\n <\/div>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n

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Councillor Hayley Tranter, Torbay Council\u2019s Cabinet Member for Adult and Community Services, Public Health and Inequalities, commented: <\/p><\/div>\r\n \t\t

\u201cAs part of Operation Town Centres, we\u2019re working with police to ensure our town centres are safe for all.<\/p>\n

\u201cIllegal vape shops are not safe places \u2013 the items sold are detrimental to public health and the unlawful sales take business away from hardworking, honest traders. I\u2019m pleased so many premises have been shut in one day. We will always act on local concerns, and I would encourage residents and businesses to report any suspicions to the police or council.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\n\n

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Torquay Inspector Rob Harvey said: <\/p><\/div>\r\n \t\t

\u201cThis is a fantastic and significant result to get this many commercial premises closed in one go. The action taken reassures the communities of Torbay that we are acting on information reported to us and will not tolerate this illegal behaviour. Public health is a very important issue, and we will respond to local concerns. We know that illegal sales of this nature can also cause commercial harm to local legitimate businesses, and I would like to thank local residents and businesses for their continued support.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\r\n\t<\/blockquote>\r\n \r\n <\/div>\n\n\n

*National intelligence suggests shops such as these take between \u00a32000-\u00a33000 per day from illegal tobacco sales.  The cheapest cigarettes available are sold for around \u00a34.50 with counterfeit hand rolling tobacco selling for between \u00a36 and \u00a310. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":859,"featured_media":67104,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[22,34],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-67102","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-economy-and-skills","category-community"],"acf":[],"featured_image":{"ID":67104,"title":"Closures","alt":"Trading standards and police putting up a closure 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