A vape shop has been ordered to close for three months after police discovered thousands of illegal vapes and tobacco within the shop.

Following a long investigation and repeated enforcement actions, Reading Magistrates Court granted a closure order on 'Vape Shop' at 462 Oxford Road, Reading, on November 20.

The shop must remain shut until February 2025.

The business, which has been operating under different names between 2019 and 2024, was found to have sold illegal tobacco and vape pens.

It is estimated that more than 115,000 cigarettes have been seized from the shop since 2019.

The council's investigations revealed that the shop was a front for the distribution of illegal tobacco and vape pens.

Reading Trading Standards received numerous complaints from local parents and residents, stating that children as young as 13 were being supplied with cigarettes and vapes.

In September 2024, the premises on Oxford Road were raided by Reading Trading Standards, in partnership with Thames Valley Police and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) officers.

Sniffer dogs discovered illegal cigarettes hidden under the shop counter, in the walls, and behind a false shelf and a mirror.

Furthermore, 20,000 cigarettes were found stored in a car linked to the business.

84 illegal vape pens were also found in the vehicle.

Some of these products advertised a capacity of more than 15,000 puffs, exceeding the legal limit of nicotine strength and tank size under the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations.

Despite the immediate temporary closure and seizure of stock, the shop continued to sell illegal tobacco and vapes.

After two further seizures in September and October, the Trading Standards Service, having exhausted alternative strategies, served notice on the shop that it intended to apply for the Closure Order under Section 80 of the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

This was due to the extensive criminal activity and the public nuisance caused by the Vape Shop.

Councillor Karen Rowland, lead councillor for Environmental Services and Community Safety, said: "This is an excellent result, following several years of careful observation work by our Trading Standards officers, and I’d like to sincerely thank our partner organisations, Thames Valley Police, and HM Revenue and Customs, for their support during the operation.

"The business clearly had no consideration for the health and wellbeing of their customers in the community.

"They were simply running a dangerous business to undercut sales by legitimate shops in the area with the primary interest of lining their own pockets.

"Anyone involved in the illegal tobacco trade is complicit in making it more attractive for children to start smoking, taking advantage of cash-strapped families, as well undermining our compliant traders in Reading.

"This business - and indeed any similar operations - need to be clear that such closures can and will happen again, should they attempt such detrimental activities in the future.

"Operations such as this have no place in our communities, and I would strongly urge anyone with information on shops such as this to report them which can be done so anonymously."