Sheffield shop faces licence review over illegal cigarette and vape sales
Sheffield Trading Standards have called for the shop’s licence to be revoked following the discovery that the shop was selling cheap, counterfeit and illegal cigarettes and vapes.
A Sheffield store faces the loss of its off licence over sales of counterfeit cigarettes and vapes.
A licence review will take place at a meeting of Sheffield City Council’s licensing sub-committee next Monday (May 11) of Super Booze on Middlewood Road in Hillsborough shopping centre.
Sheffield Trading Standards have called for the shop’s licence to be revoked following the discovery that the shop was selling cheap, counterfeit and illegal cigarettes and vapes.
A report from Trading Standards said that the shop was reported by a customer in February when they bought a pack of Lambert & Butler cigarettes that should retail at £16 but only cost £5.
It added: “As a result of this complaint Trading Standards inspected the shop on February 5, 2026 and found 51 packs of illegal cigarettes and 18 packs of illegal hand-rolling tobacco (HRT) that were hidden under a shelving unit. Twenty illegal vapes were also seized.
“On March 3, 2026 Trading Standards conducted an undercover test purchase at the shop and were able to buy a pack of Platinum 7 cigarettes that cost just £5.
“On March 9, 2026 the shop was inspected again and a further 51 packs of illegal cigarettes and seven packs of HRT were seized, along with 50 illegal disposable vapes.
“The goods seized by Trading Standards on each occasion are suspected to have been smuggled or illegally imported as they are not permitted to be sold in the UK and should not be stocked in wholesale or retail premises for supply.”
The report added: “Dealers in cheap and illicit tobacco products reap the financial benefits of supplying cheap cigarettes and tobacco at the expense of legitimate retailers by providing unfair competition to shops selling the genuine tax paid products.
“This may lead to honest retailers closing down and causing local economies to suffer.
“The supply of illicit and counterfeit tobacco products costs the taxpayer over £2.5 billion per year in lost revenue.”
The licence holder, Colette Goode, wrote to Trading Standards that she had been off work for six months and were unaware of the issues until she got notice of the licensing review.
Ms Goode said she thought the store was being responsibly managed up to that point and immediately acted to sack shop staff for misconduct.
She apologised, took full responsibility as licence holder and said she had resumed direct oversight to ensure all licensing conditions were being met.