Shop shut after illegal cigarettes and vapes raid

A Barnsley convenience store has been told to close after investigators found hundreds of thousands of illegal cigarettes, unsafe food products and banned vapes.

Lidia Mini Market, on Sheffield Road, was given a three-month closure order at a hearing at Barnsley Magistrates' Court on Thursday 11 December.

The order follows a lengthy investigation by Barnsley Metropolitan District Council's trading standards team and South Yorkshire Police.

The business was found to be breaching multiple safety and trading laws after repeated inspections, trading standards officers said.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, officers visiting the shop seized more than 220,000 illegal cigarettes and hand-rolling tobacco products that failed to meet UK safety standards.

Illegal vapes and food items without proper labelling or allergy information were also found.

Trading standards said the shop continued selling unsafe food products despite being told to remove them from sale until correctly labelled.

Illegal disposable vapes were also found to be on sale, including products that exceeded legal capacity limits, and others sold after the national ban came into force in June.

Some of the vapes were designed in a way officers said could pose a risk to children.

Officers found illegal tobacco, that did not comply with UK health warning requirements, was also being sold.

The closure order was granted under powers contained in the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014, which allows courts to shut down premises linked to serious or persistent nuisance or criminal activity.

Councillor Wendy Cain, cabinet spokesperson for public health and communities at Barnsley Metropolitan District Council, said the case sent a "clear message to traders".

She said businesses had a "legal duty" to ensure products were safe and properly labelled, adding that failures to do so put the public at risk and undermined legitimate retailers.

Trading standards officers will continue to take enforcement action to tackle the sale of illegal tobacco and unsafe products across the borough, she said.

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