30,000 illegal cigarettes seized in Wiltshire

Thirty thousand illegal cigarettes have been seized by trading standards officers in Wiltshire in 2025, new figures reveal.

The Trading Standards team also impounded 5.6kg of illegal rolling tobacco and 450 illegal vapes.

And 700 unsafe, counterfeit Labubu toys – this year’s must-have present for children… and some adults – were also removed from shop shelves.

Meanwhile, £46,000 worth of counterfeit handbags were taken out of circulation.

The Trading Standards team said it had safeguarded consumers from losses of around £100,000 – either refunded directly or prevented from falling into the hands of criminals – during the year.

The team also ordered the closure of six shops and prosecuted five people, while a further 20 are currently going through the court system.

Convicted offenders have been ordered to carry out 1,200 hours of unpaid work, and courts have awarded £56,414 in compensation to victims.

In January 2025, Smoke City in Calne was ordered to close for three months after a joint police and Trading Standards raid in December.

Officers seized 92 non-compliant vapes, 345 packets of cigarettes, and 87 pouches of hand rolling tobacco, which were all found to be illegal.

£3,055 cash found in a rucksack was also seized under the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.

Later that month, New Road Mini Mart in Chippenham was closed after Trading Standards and police seized 390 cigarette packets, 82 tobacco pouches, and£4,740 in cash.

The products were found behind a false wall panel by a sniffer dog.

In April, Vape Shop in Trowbridge was ordered to close after a sniffer dog located a stash of 257 packets of cigarettes and 16 pouches of hand rolling tobacco.

In July, officers seized illegal tobacco and vapes, along with fake Labubu dolls, from a shop in Chippenham. The shop was not identified by police or Wiltshire Council, who decided to take no further action following the confiscation of goods.

In November, a large joint operation saw Trading Standards officers and police raid 16 premises in Corsham, Calne, and Chippenham.

Meanwhile, Rex Vape Station in Devizes was fined £45,000 for employing illegal workers following a raid by Trading Standards officers and police.

Trading Standards also prosecuted two rogue builders in Westbury after a resident was ripped off out of nearly £12,000 for roof repairs. One of the pair was separately convicted for conning a resident out of £25,000 for laying a “substandard” driveway after initially quoting £7,500.