Seizures of illegal vapes are soaring in the UK, sparking warnings the government’s disposable ban is driving more people into the black market.
BBC analysis of local authority data shows Trading Standards departments in Sussex confiscated around 21,200 illicit vape products in 2024. This compares with zero just four years earlier. In Surrey, seizures rose from around 500 in 2020 to nearly 14,140 last year, a 28-fold increase.
More funding needed
The sharp rise is being hailed by councils as proof of their commitment to tackling rogue traders. However, vaping advocates and anti-smoking campaigners warn the trend points to a deeper failure of policy.
A government spokesperson said they recognised the challenges councils face and supported them with “intelligence and testing.” They pointed to more than £69 billion in funding for local government confirmed this year.
But the UK Vaping Industry Association (UKVIA) says enforcement alone will not stop the influx of dangerous products. Its director general John Dunne called the seizures “very good.” But he warned: “There is a need to hit the rogue traders hard in the pocket, so they don’t repeatedly break the law.”
He argued there needs to be “much more funding” for Trading Standards so they can “up the ante against unscrupulous importers, distributors and resellers.” Illicit vapes, he added, “pose real health and safety risks to vapers.”
Rapid escalation
Freedom of information requests reveal the true extent of the problem. Brighton and Hove City Council reported 10,504 illicit vapes seized in 2024, up from zero between 2020 and 2022.
In the same year, West Sussex County Council and East Sussex County Council confiscated 5,022 and 5,677 respectively – after no seizures at all in the early 2020s.
Surrey County Council recorded its biggest single haul in Guildford last year, with just under 1,250 devices taken off the shelves in one go.
While councils stress the seizures show their determination to protect children and young people, industry figures say the problem is worsening, not improving.
Ban backfires
The figures come against the backdrop of a government ban on disposable vapes, which came into force in June. The ban was billed as a way to reduce litter and tackle youth vaping, but critics say it risks doing more harm than good.
Mr Dunne warned the rise in illegal vapes was “only going to get worse as more adults turn to the black market as a result of the ban on simple to use disposables.”
He said illicit products “tarnish the reputation of the legitimate vape industry” and fuel the perception that vaping is riskier than smoking.
Separate evidence from Norfolk underlines his point.
Despite the nationwide ban, Trading Standards seized more than 900 single-use vapes from shops in the county in June alone. Inspections of 126 retailers found most were compliant, but a significant minority were still flouting the law.
Illegal sales persist across UK
Research published earlier this month suggests problems with the ban extends far beyond seizures. A survey by the Scottish Grocers’ Federation found almost a third (31 per cent) of retailers are still being asked for banned disposables daily, while ITV undercover footage in Cardiff captured multiple shops selling them openly.
Trading standards officers had already seized more than 1,300 illegal vapes across Wales in just two months. In some cases, shop assistants described the devices as “the old one” or sold them from back rooms.
Judith Parry, manager at Rhondda Cynon Taf Trading Standards, described the situation as “a massive problem,” admitting that enforcement teams are struggling to keep up. “As quick as we’re seizing them, they’re re-stocking, unfortunately. It’s too big a task.”
