The number of illegal vapes seized in Blackburn with Darwen in 2024 has dropped by a huge 95 per cent compared to last year.

Data revealed by a Freedom of Information request revealed that from January to October 2024 only 1,383 illicit e-cigarette products were seized across the borough.

This sum is dwarfed by the figure from 2023, which totalled 40,709 – 95.93 per cent more based on a monthly average.

Vapes are illegal if the tan capacity is more than 2ml and the nicotine volume is more than 20mg, and the products which are often illicitly imported often do not meet UK safety standards and may have other unknown, dangerous ingredients.

In March, Councillor Jim Smith warned offenders could face unlimited fines or up to two years in prison and that the sale of illegal vapes undermines retailers who are doing their best to comply with the law.

MPs are preparing to vote on Tuesday on the Tobacco and Vapes bill, which will prevent anyone born after January 1, 2009, from legally smoking by gradually raising the age at which tobacco can be bought, a piece of legislation introduced by the previous Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and has been kept on by current PM Keir Starmer.

Trends in Blackburn with Darwen do not match the national picture, with more than one million illicit vapes seized in England by Trading Standards in 2023-24.

This figure is thanks to Operation Joseph, a government-funded project to tackle enforcement and compliance around the sale of vaping projects.

The crackdown also shed light on the sales of vapes to children under 18, with almost a quarter of the 775 test purchases conducted by Trading Standards between January and March 2024 resulting in children buying illegal vapes.

Research by Lancet Public Health suggested that the number of people vaping who never regularly smoked increased sharply since disposable e-cigarettes first became popular in 2021.

According to the research, the number rose to one million, as of April 2024, a sevenfold increase since 2021 with most of these people vaping daily and over a sustained period.

This increase was largely driven by young adults, with an estimated one in seven 18 to 24-year-olds (14 per cent) who never regularly smoked now using e-cigarettes.

Blackburn with Darwen Council has been contacted for comment.