Calls for crackdown on illicit tobacco and vapes

THE ILLICIT trade in smuggled cigarettes and vapes is costing the Treasury billions and posing a huge health risk to children.

- David Williamson

There are urgent calls for a targeted government crackdown with towns and cities awash with the illegal products.

Analysis suggests no duty had been paid on six out of 10 cigarette packets in Coventry - and the figures are almost as bad for Ipswich. This was also the case for more than half of packets analysed in Luton and Derby. The Ipsos survey found no duty paid in 49 per cent of packs in Bradford, 47 per cent in Leeds, and 44 per cent in Sunderland.