One year on from disposable vape ban: “Up to 80% drop” in illegal vapes seized, Birmingham Trading Standards says
Council says crackdown is reshaping high street sales, but warns illegal tobacco is rising
It’s been one year since the ban on single-use disposable vapes — and Birmingham Trading Standards says it’s already made a major impact on the city’s high streets.
Speaking to Hits Radio, David Benbow, Head of Birmingham City Council’s Trading Standards Department, said the change has been significant in cutting illegal vape sales.
“It certainly has made a big impact upon the types of vapes that are being made available to the public within shops in Birmingham,” he said.
“I would perhaps estimate that there’s been a reduction in the amount of illegal vapes that we’re seizing now of probably up to about 80%.”
He said that before the ban, many disposable vapes were already non-compliant with the law.
“Before the ban, a lot of the disposable vapes used to be illegal because they exceeded the amount of puffs available, or they didn’t have the correct labelling,” he said.
“Or the strength of the nicotine within the vapes was higher than it should be.”
Benbow said the new legislation has removed much of that from the market.
“So because disposable vapes are banned, and the majority weren’t compliant before, that’s where the reduction has been.”
However, he warned that illegal products can still pose serious risks to consumers.
“There can be a significant amount of harm to the consumer that they’re not really aware of,” he said.
“Very often they may believe they’re using a low dosage of nicotine, when in fact that dosage could be 10, 15, 20 times stronger than advertised.”
He added that testing has revealed dangerous substances in some seized products.
“The chemicals that are actually inside the vape juices contain all sorts of nasty chemicals that can cause serious harm,” he said.
Benbow said enforcement teams are now seeing fewer vapes overall, but warned that illegal trade has not disappeared.
“When we’re going into shops and doing inspections, the amount of vapes we’re seizing is significantly reduced,” he said.
“The vapes that we are seizing now appear to be legacy stock from before the ban was introduced.”
Despite the progress on vapes, Trading Standards says illegal tobacco has become a growing concern.
“We believe that there has been an increase in tobacco-related illicit products,” he said.
Benbow outlined the scale of recent enforcement work through Operation Cloud, which targets 24-hour shops across Birmingham.
“As of January 2026, we seized just over 201,000 vapes, recovered over 188 kilograms of hand-rolling tobacco, and seized over 648,000 cigarettes,” he said.
He said criminals are still finding ways to operate outside the law, but enforcement is adapting.
“There are a variety of tactics that are available to us,” he said, including warnings, fines, prosecutions, and closure orders.
“People can get a written warning, people can get a fine, people can get prosecuted and go to jail.”
He added that intelligence from the public remains crucial in tackling illegal sales.
“If they do see anything that they suspect is not quite right, contact the Trading Standards department,” he said.
“Customers going into shops day in, day out, are often the ones who can spot it.”
He warned that illegal tobacco products can be particularly dangerous.
“Some are genuine cigarettes that haven’t had duty paid on them,” he said.
“Others are counterfeit, made in warehouses somewhere.”
Benbow said testing has uncovered alarming contents in some products.
“We’ve sent some of those products off to be tested,” he said.
“They’ve come back and contained not only nasty chemicals, but also traces of faeces.”
He said the aim is to protect consumers who may not realise what they are buying.
“People genuinely think they’re getting a bargain, but they don’t know exactly what they’re smoking,” he said.
Looking ahead, he said new legislation is expected to build on the vape ban and strengthen enforcement further.
“There is new legislation coming in relation to tobacco and vapes,” he said.
“We’re hoping that will have a similar impact.”
We spoke to David Benbow, Head of Birmingham City Council’s Trading Standards Department, as it marks one year since the disposable vape ban came into force.