CHESHIRE East was found to have one of the UK's highest number of illegal underage vape sales last year, new figures show.

The data, obtained via a Freedom of Information request obtained by the Vape Club, shows there were 19 retailers in the borough caught in 2023 - nearly four times the national average.

Highlighted by the data is a particular prevalence in the North West of illegal vape sales to underage teens, with Liverpool, Manchester and Cheshire East among England's top five worst offenders.

But Cheshire East Council is committed to tackling the issue and continues to take enforcement action against those found selling to underage customers.

Cllr Mick Warren, chairman of the council’s environment and communities committee, said: “Our highly skilled trading standards officers collaborated with colleagues at Thurrock Council and North Yorkshire Council in a recent national operation to review online vape retailers across the whole country.

“It is thanks to our track record in successfully investigating online retail crime that we were chosen to support national trading standards teams with this work.

“The findings from this exercise will support us and the wider profession in lobbying and looking to improve compliance levels for online purchases of vapes and strengthening the process of how sales of vapes to under 18s are restricted.

“Our involvement in this exercise has highlighted the risks posed by the sales of illegal vapes online. Through this work we have discovered that the figures for illegal online sales of vapes in Cheshire East appear high.

"Our trading standards team continue to undertake enforcement activities including test purchases at retailers in Cheshire East and await further positive changes to legislation around vaping products."

The data comes from the 2024 Underage Vape Sales Report which analysed Freedom of Information requests from 138 local authorities across the UK, obtained by Vape Club.

The report calls for the government to introduce a Vape Retailer and Distributor Licensing framework to curb the vaping black market and prevent illegal sales to children.

Of those retailers in the North West which did receive a fine for illegally selling vapes to those underage, the average fine was just £250 - 10 times lower than the maximum penalty of £2,500 for each offence.

Vape industry leaders have emphasised the need for stricter penalties as a deterrent.

Across the UK, more than 4,500 reports of underage vape sales were made in the latest year, equivalent to one every two hours - an increase of 31 per cent compared to the previous year.

Dan Marchant, director of the Vape Club, said: "The government needs to support local councils in enforcing stricter penalties.

"While some progress is being made, it’s clear that there’s still plenty more that can be done to tackle the issue of underage vape sales in north west England.  

“A licensing framework could provide £50 million annually to Trading Standards without burdening taxpayers, allowing for stricter enforcement and higher fines, which are necessary as rogue retailers currently face little risk of being caught.

"Currently, the maximum fine for violations is £2,500, but fines are often much lower. We'd like to see fines raised to at least £10,000, with higher penalties for repeat offenders."