A TOWN centre vape shop and its owner who ignored three improvement notices and continued to sell illegal goods has been ordered to pay more than £15,000.
Adam Casper pleaded guilty to five offences on behalf of himself and his company Beatie Enterprises Ltd, which operates Incredible Vapes on May Day Green last Thursday at Barnsley Magistrates’ Court.
The company was subsequently ordered to pay £13,310 in fines and costs.
Casper, who accepted responsibility for the issues at the town centre shop, was also ordered to pay £2,515 in fines and costs for his role in the company.
Last June, the council’s Trading Standards team conducted a series of visits to town centre businesses to check compliance with the new legislation introduced as part of the single use vape ban.
During these visits, they found that the store still had these illegal vapes available for sale.
They also found food items for sale that didn’t meet legal labelling requirements, such as ingredient information in English and the name and address of a UK business.
Officers served the company with three improvement notices, outlining the legislation breaches and how these could be remedied.
When the team returned last July, they found that the company had failed to comply with these notices, instead restocking a significant number of illegal, single use vapes.
Coun Wendy Cain, cabinet spokesperson for public health and communities, said: “We’re committed to keeping our communities safe, and we take this responsibility seriously, whether we’re keeping unsafe food items off our shelves, tackling the sale of illegal tobacco and vapes or educating businesses on their responsibilities to comply with safety standards.
“This prosecution highlights how we will always put people’s health and safety first, taking swift action when businesses fail to work with us in making improvements.
“It also shows how we will always be proactive in working with businesses to understand new legislation.
“I would like to thank our Regulatory Services and Legal Services teams for all their hard work on this case to keep illegal and potentially harmful products off our shelves.”
