68% rise in underage vape sales from London retail shops

Data shows retailers who are caught selling vapes to underage ‘kids’ continue to go unpunished — just one in five received a fine, FOI data shows

A Freedom of Information request of local authorities in London has revealed a 68% surge in underage vape sales during the past year. A rise two times sharper than the UK average.

Despite this, only one in five of the retailers caught in the capital received fines. The average fines issued by London borough authorities was £1,138, significantly lower than the maximum penalty of £2,500. Vaping industry leaders emphasise the need for stronger penalties as a deterrent.

The London borough of Sutton received the highest volume of underage vape sale reports with 46, from which 9 shops were caught selling. This was followed by Barnet with 38 underage vape sale reports and 6 retailers caught. Hillingdon Borough Council received 30 reports and caught 9 retailers.

The data comes from The 2024 Underage Vape Sales Report which analysed Freedom of Information requests from 138 local authorities, obtained by Vape Club. The report calls for the government to introduce a Vape Retailer and Distributor Licensing framework to curb the vaping black market and prevent sales to minors.

Across the UK, over 4,500 reports of underage vape sales were made in the latest year, equivalent to one every two hours—an increase of 31% compared to the previous year.

In light of the widespread issue of retailers selling vapes to underage individuals, London has shown a stronger response compared to other UK regions. In 2023, a third of underage vape sale reports (35%) in the capital resulted in disciplinary fines, which is twice the UK average. This enforcement rate is the highest in the country, compared to areas like Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and other parts of England.

Since the turn of the decade, London’s Southwark Council issued the most warnings in the UK, handing out 67. Stronger penalties and more consistent enforcement are necessary to deter retailers from continuing these practices.

Dan Marchant, Director of the UK’s largest vaping and vape pod retailer, Vape Club, says:

“The government needs to support London Boroughs in enforcing stricter penalties. While some progress is being made, it’s clear that there’s still plenty more that can be done to tackle the issue of underage vape sales in London.  

“A licensing framework could provide £50 million annually to Trading Standards without burdening taxpayers, allowing for stricter enforcement and higher fines, which are necessary as rogue retailers currently face little risk of being caught. Currently, the maximum fine for violations is £2,500, but fines are often much lower. We’d like to see fines raised to at least £10,000, with higher penalties for repeat offenders.” 

The Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), commented on the issue: 

“There are many specialist vape shops which only sell vaping products and do provide advice and guidance to customers to ensure they are selecting the right product to support them in quitting smoking. 

“However, there are many others which purport to be other types of shops – such as American candy shops, mobile phone accessory shops – where vape sales probably do contribute more than half of sales and yet they do not merit any relaxing of legislation to protect children.”

Featured Photo by CDC on Unsplash.