A Reading vape shop accused of serving 13-year-olds has been closed

It said it believed it was acting “as a front for the distribution of illicit tobacco and, more recently, illicit vaping devices.”

“Reading Trading Standards has received a number of complaints from concerned local parents and residents about the supply of cigarettes and vapes to children as young as 13,” the council said.

Authorities said about 115,000 cigarettes were seized, with some vape pens falsely advertising a capacity of 15,000 puffs, or more than 25 times the legal strength of nicotine.

Councilor Karen Rowland, the authority’s chair of environmental services and community safety, said: “The company clearly had no regard for the health and wellbeing of its customers in the community.

“They were simply running a dangerous business to undercut the sales of legal stores in the area, with their main goal being to line their own pockets.”