19 hours Ago
A year after the Echo uncovered illicit vapes being sold in Durham city shops, our reporter has again been able to purchase overfilled, supersized vapes easily, cheaply and quickly - even being shown a menu of highly illegal devices. Six vapes were test purchased from stores around Darlington – with consumer watchdogs confirming that two, purchased from Corporation Road Mini Market, and the Romanian Shop on North Road, were illegal, as they were unregulated, oversized, and untested. Two vapes purchased by the Echo have been identified as illegal by Trading Standards.
(Image: Sarah Caldecott) In the UK, legislation outlines that disposable vapes must not hold more than two millilitres of liquid or contain more than 20 milligrams of nicotine per millilitre of e-liquid. But our reporter was sold devices that contained 10ml of liquid and had not been tested by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. Corporation Road Mini Market, on Corporation Road, Darlington.
(Image: Sarah Caldecott) The first shop the Echo visited, Corporation Road Mini Market, which is located in a former terraced house, sold our reporter an illegal extra-large vape within the first five minutes of our undercover sting. When our reporter visited, the soft drink fridges were not turned on, and even though the store markets itself as a corner shop that sells “everyday essentials”, there were no fresh goods, like milk or bread, in stock. There is a small selection of legal vapes on display behind the counter – but when our reporter asked the cashier for a device known to be illegal, she was shown a menu of illegal Hayati vapes.
After a selection was made, the cashier went into the back of the shop, and brings out the selected product – an illegal Hayati ProMax vape, which has a capacity five times larger than legal vapes, and claimed its “puff count” is more than 4,000. It was purchased for £10, in cash, as the shop does not take card payments. Though legal limits are not set by vape puff count, it can be used as an indicator.
Typically, devices that stick to the 2ml vape oil limit will be able to provide about 600 puffs, meaning devices that tout puff counts well into the thousands are likely to be over the limit. Romanian Shop, on Darlington's North Road. (Image: Sarah Caldecott) At the Romanian Shop, located on North Road, the cashier was on the phone, and showed our reporter a picture of a box of Hayati Pro Max vapes, letting her pick a flavour.
Then, the cashier rang someone in the back room to bring out the chosen device. The lime cola flavoured vape costs £10, by card. Bank records show the transaction registered as a purchase at Dima Mini Market, located a few doors down, which was forced to close by Trading Standards last summer, after an investigation found it was persistently selling illegal vapes, cigarettes and tobacco.
Both retailers we bought illegal vapes from are now under investigation by the Trading Standards department at Darlington Borough Council. Test purchases from four other stores in Darlington – Vape Inc, Post House News, Darlo Phone Repair, and Sky Vape – were found to be legal after examination. Tip offs about shops came from members of the Darlington community, and the town’s former MP Peter Gibson.
Reporter Phoebe Abruzzese buying vapes in Darlington town centre. Two of the six vapes bought at various Darlington retailers were illegal. (Image: Stuart Boulton) In a previous investigation, carried out in 2023, our reporter was easily able to buy an illegal vape in one store in Durham City Centre, while e-cigarettes bought in another two raised serious “red flags” with officers from Trading Standards.
The Echo uncovered strong links between the illegal vape trade and with organised crime groups, exploitation, modern slavery and child grooming. After testing vapes purchased by the Echo in 2023, Durham Police were unable to identify chemicals in the devices. Illicit devices are regularly found to contain harmful heavy metals, and harsh formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde.
Vapes purchased from Post House News, Darlo Phone Repair, Vape Inc and Sky Vapes were all above board. (Image: Stuart Boulton) Shaun Trevor, trading standards manager at Darlington Borough Council, said: “Our trading standards team and Durham Constabulary officers have been working together to combat the illegal trade of tobacco and nicotine products in the area. “This type of activity is not only criminal but also funds organised crime groups.
Illegal products including counterfeit tobacco and over-strength vapes could also pose serious health risks to consumers.” The Northern Echo was unable to contact either of the Darlington shops we bought illegal products from for comment. If you have any information that can assist trading standards please email tradingstandards@darlington.
gov.uk or report it using the online form (this can be done anonymously) at www.darlington.
gov.uk/ts-report-it.
