Licence review for Dewsbury shop found selling illegal cigarettes
A Dewsbury shop which police and trading standards officers say was found to be selling illegal cigarettes will have its licence reviewed next week.
Ravensthorpe Off-Licence, at 618 Huddersfield Road in Ravensthorpe, has failed several test purchases carried out by West Yorkshire Police and West Yorkshire Trading Standards, members of Kirklees Council’s licensing panel will be told.
According to documents for the panel meeting, on March 4, a police officer was able to buy an illegal 20-pack of Marlborough Gold for £7.50. Packets of open cigarettes, believed to be being sold individually, were also found.
The following month, a trading standards officer purchased an illegal pack of Richmond cigarettes for £3.50.
In April, a search by both organisations yielded 26 20-packs of illegal cigarettes in a bag behind the counter, along with 115 disposable electronic vapes on display.
These had a tank capacity larger than the maximum permitted of 2ml nicotine containing liquid - also making them illegal.
A statement from trading standards officer Noreen Akhtar said: “The packaging of the cigarettes found behind the counter is not the correct colour as required by The Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 and the prescribed health warnings are not present in English as required by the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.
"From discrepancies in the packaging of some of the cigarettes and the foreign excise stamps present on others, I believe them to be a mix of counterfeit and smuggled items.”
The review is being carried out on Monday (July 7).