Three retailers in Ealing have been caught selling vapes to children, as part of a test purchasing exercise by the council's trading standards team. 

As part of an exercise by the trading team, a 16-year-old accompanied by two adult officers visited 14 shops in Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, and Greenford to see if they would see the child vapes (which contain nicotine). 

11 of the shops denied them the purchase, but three stores did sell to them, and officers are now investigating the shops with a view to potential prosecutions. 

Councillor Bassam Mahfouz, Ealing Council's cabinet member for decent living incomes, said "Our trading standards team have done a brilliant job cracking down on the minority of retailers who are willing to sell these highly addictive products to local children. 

"Although it is positive to see that most businesses were following the law and take their responsibilities seriously, this type of exercise shows that there is still work to do.  

"For those who don't act responsibly, let this be a warning. If you are tempted to break the law: you will be found out and we will always take the strongest possible action in response." 

A large number of a brand of vapes called "R and M Tornado", which contain nicotine with a tank capacity which exceeds the legal limit, were seized from a store on the exercise as well. 

The law states that the vape's tank should not hold more than 2ml, which equates to roughly 600 puffs, or around 20 cigarettes and the seized products contained 7,000 puffs – equal to the nicotine content of around 233 cigarettes, they also failed to meet statutory labelling and information requirements.