The high street shops selling vapes to under-18s - Which?

For our undercover investigation, we sent under-18s onto the high street with hidden cameras. Out of eight shops visited, five sold nicotine vapes to our underage secret shoppers. In several cases, ID wasn’t even mentioned. Perhaps most shockingly, when one teenager admitted they had no ID, the shopkeeper didn’t show them the door – they tried to upsell them instead. Rogue businesses up and down the country continue to break the law and get away with it because they simply aren’t being caught. The Trading Standards enforcement system is under severe strain, leaving gaps that expose young people to real harm. The need for effective consumer protection is greater than ever. We’re calling on the government for urgent reform to support our overstretched Trading Standards teams.