Trading Standards teams at Kent County Council (KCC) have stopped three million illegal vapes from reaching residents over the past five years.
Two-thirds of devices were intercepted during checks on goods entering the country through Kent’s Channel ports, while the remainder were seized from high street retailers across the county.
Jim Whiddett, operations manager at Kent Trading Standards, said: “We’d always expect seizures at the ports to be bigger than on the high street. That’s because an imported shipment contains hundreds of thousands of vapes while our officers on the high street might find 20 illegal vapes in one shop.
“But both our ports and high street teams have made significant seizures since we set up the joint approach of focusing on Kent high streets and import routes in 2021.”
Supporting legitimate businesses
Kent Trading Standards said it had been “working hard with local retailers to ensure they keep up with vape regulations and operate legally”.
Whiddett added: “Most shops want to be compliant and sell legal products. Our officers identified the introduction of the single use vape ban regulations in June 2025 as a significant change and worked with retailers to ensure they understood the new requirements.”
The council partnered with the Independent British Vape Trade Association to launch the Local Vape Action (LVA) initiative across the county.
The LVA is a local partnership bringing retail, industry and partner agencies together to promote responsible retailing of vapes, including tackling under-age sales.
Currently there are two LVA’s in Tunbridge Wells and Ashford, and a third in the county is to be launched this month.
Paul Webb, cabinet member for community and regulatory services at KKC, said: “Illegal vape sales put people’s health at risk, undercut shops trying to do the right thing and damage the environment.
“Kent Trading Standards are doing fantastic work keeping across the vape market, supporting legitimate businesses and protecting communities. Residents can also help by reporting concerns.”
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