Trading Standards in Swansea is stepping up its efforts to close down vape shops that are selling illegal vapes and tobacco.
Swansea Council has recently taken action against two vape shops in the city, successfully applying to Swansea Magistrates Court to close for three months.
World of Vapes in St Teilos Street, Pontarddulais, was ordered to close for the extended period after Swansea Council Trading Standards visited the store earlier in June and discovered fake tobacco and vapes in a hidden storage unit.
Snoop Vapes on High Street in the city centre was also closed after repeated sales of fake tobacco to undercover trading standards officers over a period of two months.
Trading Standards has now confirmed that further shops will be targeted and closed following ongoing intelligence and test purchases from stores.
Rhys Harries, Swansea Council’s Trading Standards Team Leader, said “We are committed to tackling the continued illegal sale of tobacco and vapes from many of these shops, often with sales to children.
“We have powers to close shops after we visit but need the help of the courts to extend these temporary closures to three months, which we hope will disrupt the trade and prevent these harmful goods getting into the hands of younger children.
“There’s more to come. We have continued with our intelligence gathering and there will be more closures this year.”
The continued crackdown on the illegal sale of vapes follows a wider operation in October 2025 when Trading Standards joined forces with South Wales Police and raided shops throughout Swansea, where intelligence had shown the shops to be training in illegal goods.
A total of nine shops were closed during the October raids with more than £70,000 of illegal tobacco and vapes confiscated.
Andrew Williams, Cabinet Member for Development at Swansea Council, said: “This council is taking the sale of illegal vapes and counterfeit tobacco in Swansea very seriously.
“Our Trading Standards Team has made this issue a priority and has been able to gather large amounts of intelligence in terms of which shops in the city have previously been selling illegal goods to consumers, including children.
“The latest operation has been very successful in our efforts to disrupt this type of trade and hopefully it will send out a very strong message to other businesses in the city, that they have a duty to ensure they are trading legally and not putting consumers at risk.”
