New polling shows three in five adults want councils to have greater powers to limit the number of vape shops in their area and clamp down on cowboy businesses
Ministers face calls to make it harder to open vape shops in high streets(Image: Jacob King/PA Wire)
A majority of voters want tougher new laws to set up vape shops on high streets, new polling shows.
Three in five adults say they want to give councils more power to limit the number in their area amid fears town centres are being “hollowed out”. The Government faces calls to make businesses prove there is an unmet need for them in order to get a licence to sell tobacco and vapes.
And the Lib Dems have called for local authorities to have greater powers to shut down cowboy vendors.
It comes after the National Crime Agency (NCA) identified vape shops as one of the main “cash-intensive” businesses organised criminals use to launder money.
A Savanta poll of over 2,100 adults found 60% supported giving councils more control on the number of vape shops in their area. Just 11% said they opposed it.
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Lib Dem home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson told The Mirror: “High streets are at the heart of our communities, but too often they are being hollowed out and taken over by vape shops – some of which are backed by decidedly dodgy business practices.
“We need to give our brilliant high streets a chance to thrive and local people also deserve a say about how their local shopping areas look and feel. That’s why the Government should hand over extra powers to trading standards officers to give them the powers to shut down every business found to be engaging in illicit activities.
“The current powers given to local authorities are just not strong enough. Cowboy vape shop vendors are booming and the police are having to seize millions of illegal vapes. We need an urgent clamp down on this industry now to help save our high streets.”
The Lib Dems want the Government’s new licensing regime for tobacco and vapes to let councils reject applications if they believe there are already too many such businesses. This would require applicants to prove there is demand in the area which is not being met.
This, the party said, would breathe life back into Britain’s high streets. Analysis by the Centre for Social Justice has found there were seven pubs lost for every new vape shop over the last decade.
John Herriman, chief executive of the Chartered Trading Standards Institute, said: “Local Authority Trading Standards have shared significant enforcement challenges with regards to shutting down dodgy shops.
“We are calling on the Government to urgently provide Trading Standards and others with the resources and powers we need to more effectively address the proliferation of dodgy shops on our high streets.”
In November last year the NCA said: “High street businesses such as mini-marts, barbershops, vape shops, nail bars, and car washes are used to make the proceeds of crime appear like the legitimate profits of a trade or service.
“High street businesses are also being used to sell illicit products and evade tax, and are often linked to other types of criminality such as drugs supply and the serious violence it causes.”
