Shop shut by court order for second time in a year

A shop has been closed for a second time over "illegal vapes and counterfeit tobacco".

In October last year the Roman Express store in Loughborough town centre was shut down by a court order for four weeks.

The Church Gate store reopened and began trading under a new name, Go4vape, but monitoring visits in March led to further action from Leicestershire Police and Leicestershire County Council.

On Wednesday, a second court order was obtained from Leicester Magistrates' Court against the owner, closing the store a second time.

The three month order prevents anyone from entering the shop until 23 July.

As well as the vape and tobacco offences which led to the authorities obtaining two successful court orders, Trading Standards officers also conducted an underage sales test purchase in August last year.

A young person was not only sold a vape without being challenged, but the vape itself was illegal, the authority said.

Gary Connors, head of Leicestershire Trading Standards, said closures work to "disrupt" people willing to "put our local community at a public health risk".

He added: "The owner's flagrant disregard for the courts is astonishing and it highlights that Leicestershire County Council Trading Standards officers will follow up on businesses to make sure they're complying with the law."

Mr Connors said persistent offenders could be "dealt with individually through the criminal prosecution process" and that the store would face monitoring should it reopen.

He added: "We will continue to clamp down on the sale of illicit cigarettes and vapes, as well as underage sales, to protect Leicestershire residents from traders who break the law."

Sharing the closure order, a spokesperson for Charnwood Police said: "Illegal products such as these impact on the health of the local community, and also affect those legitimate businesses trading nearby.

"There is also a link between these businesses and areas of anti-social behaviour."

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