North East Lincolnshire Council

More than £16,000 worth of illegal disposable vaping bars and £3,420 worth (legitimate value) of illicit tobacco products have been seized between two premises, one in Grimsby and one in Cleethorpes.

Hundreds of businesses were written to by Trading Standards in August, advising them of the law and their responsibilities, and warning of the dangers of selling illegal disposable vape bars.

Following this and based on reports from the public, the two businesses were visited this week by North East Lincolnshire Council’s Trading Standards team. Humberside Police Community Team assisted during the Cleethorpes visit.

Both businesses were found to be selling disposable vapes that not only breached the law on tank size (10ml and 14ml, when the legal limit is 2ml), but some devices were found to contain nicotine strengths more than double the legal limit of two per cent strength.

The retailers will be invited for formal interviews under caution and files will be prepared for consideration of prosecution.

Councillor Ron Shepherd, portfolio holder for safer and stronger communities at North East Lincolnshire Council, said: “Trading Standards will always act on information such as that received and thank the public for their efforts to help eradicate these illegal vapes which seem to be very sought after by children due to the bright colours and multiple choices of flavours.

“We need to ensure that we have strict regulations and controls over vaping products to protecting the health of future generations.”

PC Michael Goodwin, of our Grimsby East Neighbourhood Policing Team, said: “This is not just a case of taking cheap tobacco off the streets. We do it to protect people and our communities. Operations such as these have been known to fund organised crime groups, with connections to modern-day slavery and human trafficking.“I hope that this latest seizure of counterfeit and illicit tobacco products shows that we will take every avenue to disrupt those who are involved in this time of criminality.”

North East Lincolnshire Council and its regeneration partner, EQUANS, are carrying out works to upgrade a weather station situated on A18 Barton Street in Laceby.

The weather station has been in place since 1997 and is a key component for winter service. A weather station is used to monitor weather conditions, including the road surface state.

The weather station also collects and provides data information that forms the basis for daily forecasts in the borough’s region, which in turn assists informed winter service treatment decision making. This upgrade is funded under the Local Transport Plan.

“I am delighted we are upgrading the weather station on the A18 to the latest technology which will provide resilience for many aspects of the authority’s winter service,” said Councillor Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for environment and transport.

The works will start on Monday 17 October and will be completed on Wednesday 19 October. The works will start with the removal of the existing weather station equipment, which will be carried out under an inside lane closure for southbound traffic on Monday 17 October.

The works to install the new weather station will then start on the evening of Monday 17 October. This work will also require removal of road sensors from the carriageway.

To allow the works to be carried out and ensure the safety of the contractors, an overnight road closure for southbound traffic only will be in place between 6pm and 6am.

Access for emergency vehicles will be maintained throughout the works. Although every effort will be made to minimise disruption throughout the works, please be aware some elements will be noisy.

The final stage of works will be to carry out weather data testing. This will be undertaken on Wednesday 19 October under an inside lane closure for southbound traffic.

There will be a Variable Message Sign (VMS) warning placed in advance of the works on the A18 10 days before the road is due to close.

The council, EQUANS, and contractor Vaisala Ltd would like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience and assure you that the work will be completed as quickly and safely as possible.