Thatcham Costcutter and director of Express Limited Jagtar Singh Bajaj fined for illegal vapes

A Thatcham business and its director have been fined for having illegal vapes for sale.

Costcutter Store in Sagecroft Road had 990 disposable electronic cigarettes presented for sale.

This exceeds the permitted capacity as set out in the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

Both the director of Express Limited Jagtar Singh Bajaj, along with the company, entered guilty pleas, at Reading Magistrates Court on April 5, to charges relating to presenting the sale of the products.

The pleas led to a total penalty of more than £6,000.

Trading standards officers visited the store on February 3 last year to carry out an inspection following a complaint from a member of the public that the store was selling illegal disposable vapes.

The officers found 990 disposable electronic cigarettes containing liquid in a volume of between 4.5ml and 22m, which exceeded the 2ml limits set out in the legislation.

They seized around £5,000 worth of stock.

The business owner Mr Bajaj and his company were sentenced to pay total fines and costs amounting to £6,222.

Mr Bajaj was fined £230, plus a victim surcharge of £92 and a £2,230 contribution towards the prosecution costs.

The company was fined £1,000 plus a victim surcharge of £400 and £2,250 towards the prosecution costs.

The magistrates had taken the guilty pleas into account when setting the fines.

A forfeiture order was made for the destruction of all infringing devices seized.

Service lead for public protection Sean Murphy said: “Although vaping is considered safer than smoking traditional tobacco products it is important that legal controls and standards are complied with.

“Our trading standards officers work hard to ensure that the vapes that are sold in the PPP [Public Protection Partnership] areas meet the legal requirements as part of a wider strategy relating to the controls on vapes.”