OPINION: Cllr Dawn Justice’s Nottinghamshire County Council column
I recently accompanied our trading standards team to a raid on a shop in Worksop, which was suspected of selling disposable vapes and illicit tobacco.
As a new cabinet member at Nottinghamshire County Council, this was a real eye opener into the work that our trading standards team do to keep Nottinghamshire safe.
We were also joined by Frankie the sniffer dog who used his super sniff to detect a number of disposable vapes, which are of course illegal to sell after the ban came into force on 1 June 2025.
Sadly, this is not uncommon for our trading standards team to find and alongside selling disposable vapes, illegal vapes were also found in the shop. I was fascinated to learn that illegal vapes often contain a coil which cannot be replaced and that many have a 10ml tank, whereas for legal vapes the tank is only 2ml. This means that there is no restriction on how much of the product can be inhaled. I was also surprised to learn that many people who buy illegal vapes may not always know that they are illegal and so I would urge anyone purchasing a vape to check that it is not disposable and secondly that it does not have a tank size greater than 2ml.
Watching Frankie at work in the shop was fascinating and thanks to his skill, a number of other items were discovered. You may have heard the phrase ‘under the counter goods’ to describe counterfeit products and I don’t think it will surprise you to know that these items are rarely found under the counter. In this case, Frankie helped to discover an area in a back room which was concealing illicit tobacco. As part of his training, once Frankie detects an item he rests his nose on the spot and lets his handler expose the item.
Much of the work done by our trading standards team takes place behind the scenes but there is no doubt that the work they do is to keep you safe.
I was really encouraged to see that apprentices from our trading standards team were present at the raid. They have now completed their training and this is a great example of how we’re supporting the next generation to protect the people of Nottinghamshire.
I am really proud of our trading standards team, and while this is just one example of disposable and illegal vapes being taken off the shelves, it is these individual examples which make a difference.
If you see disposable vapes on sale, I’d urge you to contact Citizens Advice by calling 0808 223 1133. Any reports will be passed onto Trading Standards.You can also visit their website for more information: https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer/get-more-help/if-you-need-more-help-about-a-consumer-issue/