Glasgow City Council push for vape regulations after Union Street fire
The March 8th blaze started in a vape shop and tore through a B-listed Victorian building.
Last updated 2nd Apr 2026
Glasgow City Council has pushed for greater regulations on vape shops and the storage of lithium-ion batteries, following the devastating Union Street fire that wrecked a historic building.
Councillors met for a full council meeting on Thursday 2 April - their first since the blaze on March 8th which resulted in the B-listed Victorian building next to Central Station needing to be demolished. The fire also caused days of disruption for thousands of commuters, as the station shut down for safety inspections. It also destroyed numerous businesses.
Today, the SNP, Labour and the Greens all proposed various motions demanding action to improve safety.
All the motions acknowledged the investigation into the fire is ongoing, but there are concerns that vape products may have contributed to the fire.
Labour Councillor Thomas Rannachan spoke after the meeting, saying of the Union Street blaze:
"It's ripped a big hole in Glasgow, to be honest. People are hurt and they're worried as well about where we're going to go with it now and how do we replace what was there and get that sense of civic pride back to a ridiculously busy area. Glasgow Central Station is right there."
Councillor Rannachan's own motion called for a review of council activity relating to the risks of lithium-ion battery fires, and sets out options for "enhancing fire prevention and emergency preparedness measures" within heritage buildings in the city, following several incidents in recent years.
Currently, the council has no regulatory, licensing or planning role in relation to vape products, other than tobacco control functions which apply to the sale of all nicotine products.
Councillor Rannachan said:
"Unfortunately we've seen now the devastation and what can actually happen when these things (lithium-ion batteries) go. I do know a firefighter myself and he did state, once one of these batteries goes, you can drop it into a bucket of water and it can burn for hours."
There's calls for Holyrood to now implement new legislation on how to tackle this "emerging threat".
Councillor Rannachan added:
"It's along the lines of proper recycling, storage, who can sell and who can't, what requirements are needed if you want to have these devices on your premises. Kind of akin to fireworks; there's regulations around them as they're explosive devices."
Further steps are expected to be taken after the Holyrood election on 7 May.
Currently, a Union Street fire recovery group has been established to bring together partners from the public and private sector as well as the city's heritage community. They will consider potentially purchasing the Union Corner site.
Furthermore, businesses affected by the Union Street fire have until Sunday 5 April to apply for financial help.
A special fund was set up after the blaze, with support from the Scottish Government, to help local small firms recover.
Depending on how close they were to the fire, businesses could get between two thousand and twenty five thousand pounds.
Around 160 are going through the application process at the moment.