Posted on: 12 September 2025
Six more shops were closed for peddling illegal tobacco and vapes this week, the highest number of closures of its kind ever seen in Devon on a single day.
Following a hearing at Plymouth Magistrates Court on Thursday 11 September, four shops in Torquay and two in Paignton were ordered to shut up shop for three months.
The closures followed a major operation by Heart of the South West Trading Standards and Devon and Cornwall Police and have halted the sale of illegal tobacco products collectively valued across the six stores at between £360,000 and £540,000 a month.*
It follows the closure of four shops in Torquay and one in Honiton in July and two closures in Exmouth in June.
Each closure is the result of a continued partnership working between police and trading standards to stamp out the sale of illegal tobacco products in the region.
The three-month closure orders can be extended if necessary.
Each closure followed an application by police supported by evidence from trading standards, including details of failed test purchases and seizures of illegal products following inspections.
Each shop tries to conceal the illegal goods, such as a hidden area above a light fitting in the shop’s toilet, but in each case the stashes were found thanks to the help of specialist detection dogs such as detection dog Rio.
The shops closures are:
- Milano Mini Market, 42 Tor Hill Road, Torquay, TQ2 5RF
- Cheeto Market, 105 Union Street, Torquay, TQ1 3DW
- International Mini Market, 102 Union Street, Torquay, TQ2 5PY
- The Mist Market, 27 Fleet Street, Torquay, TQ1 1BB
- Blueberry Store, 24a Torbay Road, Paignton, TQ4 6AF
- Laz One Shop, 310 Torquay Road, Paignton, TQ3 2DZ
Alex Fry, Operations Manager for Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service, said: “This joint operation will have severely disrupted the illegal tobacco trade in the area. The sale of illegal tobacco harms children as they are able to buy tobacco for pocket money prices and encourages them to take up the habit, and harms legitimate businesses because they undercut legitimate traders who play by the rules.
“We will continue to work with our partners in Devon and Cornwall Police to act on intelligence and target unscrupulous sellers.”
*National intelligence suggests shops such as these take between £2000-£3000 per day from illegal tobacco sales. The cheapest cigarettes available are sold for around £4.50 with counterfeit hand rolling tobacco selling for between £6 and £10.