Newcastle City Centre Shop Fined After Illegal Vapes Seized

A vape company was ordered to pay more than £1,000 after banned disposable vapes were discovered for sale at a shop in the heart of Newcastle city centre, in the first successful prosecution of its kind brought by Newcastle City Council.

Innovape Ltd, whose registered address was on Dean Road in South Shields, was fined £666 by Newcastle magistrates after admitting the offence. The business was also ordered to pay £150 towards prosecution costs and a £266 victim surcharge, bringing the total amount it was required to pay to £1,082.

The prosecution followed action by Newcastle City Council's Trading Standards team at the retailer's premises on Grainger Street, one of the busiest shopping streets in Newcastle city centre.

Officers initially visited the shop on June 10 and provided the shopkeeper with information about legislation covering the sale of vaping products. However, when Trading Standards officers returned to the premises six days later, they found disposable vapes being offered for sale.

A total of 22 vaping products were subsequently seized from the Newcastle shop.

Disposable vapes were found during return visit.

Council officers examined the products and found evidence indicating that a number of the devices were disposable rather than reusable vaping products permitted under the new rules.

Four different products had no charging point and contained batteries sealed inside the devices for single use. Packaging belonging to another four products was labelled "disposable", providing further evidence for the council's investigation.

The sale and supply of single-use vapes had been banned across the UK from June 1, 2025, meaning the Newcastle Trading Standards visit took place after retailers had been required to remove banned products from sale.

Under the rules, vaping devices needed to meet requirements allowing them to be reused rather than simply discarded once their liquid or battery had run out. The government said reusable products had to be both rechargeable and refillable, with replacement coils available separately where applicable.

Businesses had also been advised to arrange for remaining stocks of disposable vapes to be recycled rather than continuing to sell them.

Company admitted offence after Newcastle investigation.

Innovape Ltd pleaded guilty online through the Single Justice Procedure, a system used to deal with certain minor criminal offences without requiring a defendant to attend a traditional court hearing.

In mitigation, the company said the continued sale of the disposable vaping products had been an oversight.

Despite that explanation, the prosecution resulted in a financial penalty and represented an important milestone for Newcastle City Council as officers continued enforcement of the disposable vape legislation across the city.

The case was particularly significant because it was the first prosecution of its type successfully secured by the council since the ban came into effect.

Newcastle's busy city centre contains a large number of independent retailers alongside national chains, with Grainger Street forming part of the historic retail area running through the centre. Trading Standards officers were expected to continue checking businesses to ensure products being sold to customers complied with the law.

Disposable vape waste had become a national problem.

The ban was introduced following mounting concern about both the environmental impact of disposable vaping products and their popularity among younger people.

Government figures published around the introduction of the ban estimated that approximately 8.2 million disposable vapes were being thrown away or littered every week across the UK. That was equivalent to around 13 devices being discarded every second.

Disposable vapes also contained valuable materials, including lithium batteries, which made simply throwing the products into general household rubbish particularly problematic. Batteries could become damaged during waste collection and processing, potentially increasing the risk of fires at recycling and waste facilities.

The sheer number of devices entering the waste stream had been one of the major arguments behind replacing disposable products with vaping devices designed to be reused.

There were also signs that vaping habits among younger people had been changing. Action on Smoking and Health reported in its 2026 survey that 19% of 11 to 17-year-olds in Great Britain had tried vaping, while 6% currently vaped and 2% did so every day.

Among young people who currently vaped, the proportion mainly using disposable products had fallen substantially compared with previous years, dropping from 69% in 2023 to 13% in 2026.

Newcastle Council issued warning to retailers.

Councillor Owen Burbidge, Newcastle City Council's cabinet member with responsibility for regulation, said the authority's Trading Standards officers had been actively targeting businesses which continued to sell disposable vapes.

He said the successful prosecution sent a clear message to retailers that the council would investigate businesses suspected of breaking the rules and would take prosecution action where appropriate.

The council also encouraged people living, working or shopping in Newcastle to report retailers they suspected were continuing to sell disposable vaping products.

The Grainger Street case demonstrated that the disposable vape ban was not simply a change on paper. Enforcement was taking place at shop level, and businesses found continuing to sell prohibited products risked investigation, seizure of stock and potentially a court penalty.

For Newcastle retailers selling vaping products, the council's first successful prosecution also provided a clear indication of what could happen when banned disposable devices remained on shelves after the legislation had taken effect.

Share your experiences.

Have you spotted disposable vapes still being sold in Newcastle since the ban came into force?