The owner of a Chester shop has been fined after trading Standards officers found illegal e-cigarettes there.

At Chester Magistrates Court on October 9, 30-year-old Hamin Latif Rashed, sole director of H Foods Plus Limited, was ordered to pay a total of £1,820 (£888 costs, £666 fine, £266 surcharge).

Prosecuting, Andrew Harrison said it was on November 22, 2022, when Trading Standards officers, along with officers from HMRC, made an unannounced inspection.

A sniffer dog was able to indicate a hidden panel, which when removed revealed 121 e-cigarettes. A total of 106 of them contained nicotine liquid in excess of the legal limit of 2ml, with the other 15 not having any indication on nicotine levels.

Rashed pleaded guilty at the first opportunity.

As well as the court costs, the e-cigarettes found were to be forfeited. After being told he would not get them back, Rashed told the court: "Never again!"

Previously we reported the former owner of an Ellesmere Port shop which sold illegal cigarettes and sold a vape to a 14-year-old had been ordered to pay thousands of pounds.

On 8 March 2023, officers from Trading Standards and Cheshire Police made an unannounced inspection at Easy Shop on Whitby Road.  A search of the premises revealed counterfeit cigarettes, grey market cigarettes (without English health warnings) and illegal electronic cigarettes, which were seized.

On 18 October 2023, a further visit to the shop was carried out to check whether sales of e-cigarettes to children were happening.  A 14-year old child volunteer accompanied Trading Standards and was sold a ‘watermelon’ e-cigarette by the male shop assistant.  No identification or proof of age was asked for.

Hersh Mamand, 41, of Wildbrook Drive, Birkenhead, Wirral, pleaded guilty at the first opportunity to 14 charges when he appeared at Chester Magistrates Court on Wednesday, October 9 and was ordered to pay a total of £2,218.

Cheshire West and Chester Council has continued its crackdown on illegal vapes this week.

Public Protection officers, a sniffer dog team from Wag Tails and Cheshire Police visited five premises in Ellesmere Port and seized 77,140 cigarettes, 6.15kg of hand rolled tobacco and 1,963 vapes and one person was subsequently arrested.

Councillor Christine Warner, Cabinet Member for Homes, Planning and Safer Communities, said: “All businesses should be aware that it is their responsibility to ensure compliance with relevant legislation and non-compliance could result in stock being seized and destroyed, and, as in this case, prosecution.

“Illegal tobacco supports other criminal activity and has many damaging effects on our local communities, as well as causing poor health. People may be tempted by the cheap price tag, but it's worth considering the great cost to your health, safety and community.”

For help and support to quit smoking, visit https://cheshirechangehub.org/, email: hello@cheshirechangehub.org, or call 0300 777 0033.