A Newtongrange shopkeeper and his employer have been issued fixed penalty notices for selling a nicotine-based vape product to a person under 18.
Acting on a tip-off, Midlothian Council’s trading standards team carried out test surveillance that confirmed the sales, and officers took immediate action. Further details of the store that was punished have not been revealed.
Councillor Stuart McKenzie, Midlothian Council’s Cabinet Member with responsibility for trading standards, said: “It’s abhorrent that shopkeepers are endangering the health of young people and profiting from doing so. They are well aware of the law, which prohibits the sale of tobacco and nicotine products, including vapes, to young people under the age of 18.
“Quite frankly anyone caught doing this and fined up to £200 in the first instance is getting off lightly.”
