illegal

Illegal vapes with a street value of approximately £7400 worth has been seized from a store in Plymouth following an operation by Trading Standards and Devon and Cornwall Police.

Heart of the South West Trading Standards and Devon and Cornwall Police have visited a number of knife retailers as part of the Police’s Operation Sceptre campaign. Trading Standards were ensuring that...

Trading Standards seized illegal tobacco estimated to be worth more than £200,000 in raids in Devon and Somerset on Friday (22 July).

The raids were conducted by officers from the Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service and supported by Avon & Somerset Police, Devon and Cornwall Police, and HM Revenue and Customs.

The seizure is one of the largest of its kind...

Trading Standards has seized illegal tobacco worth more than £31,000 from six shops across Devon, Plymouth, and Somerset.

Supported by Avon & Somerset Police and Devon and Cornwall Police, officers from T he Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service used specialist detection dogs to find the tobacco in a series of raids last month (December).

Some of the tobacco...

Illegal tobacco worth almost £60,000 has been confiscated from retailers across the region following a series of operations.

Led by Devon, Plymouth, Somerset, and Torbay Trading Standards and supported by HM Revenue and Customs and the police, the seizures were part of a three-day operation to disrupt the sale and supply of illegal tobacco.

In total 156,840 cigarettes (7,842...

Tattoo equipment has been seized after information from the public about another 'scratcher' in the city.

Trading Standards Officers along with Devon and Cornwall Police officers, seized a large amount of tattoo equipment including; 19 boxes of out of date needles and unsterile equipment from a Plymouth residential address this week.

The raid happened after information was...

People in Plymouth who are thinking of getting a dog are being warned to be wary of illegally imported puppies.

The warning comes after a litter of illegally imported puppies were found by a vet in the city who alerted trading standards officers.

The four puppies were imported to Plymouth from Hungary with pet passports that had a false date of birth. They were then offered for...

The Government has announced that from 1 February 2016, all private landlords in England will have to check new tenants have the right to be in the UK before renting out their property.

Under the new rules, landlords who fail to check a potential tenant’s ‘Right to Rent’ will face penalties of up to £3,000 per tenant.

The new law will mean that private landlords, including...

Tattoo equipment has been seized as another 'scratcher' has been raided through the Council’s Operation Itchy.

Officers from the Council’s Public Protection Service, together with the police, executed a court order at an address in the city last week in the continued crackdown on illegal tattooists, known as scratchers. Scratchers are people who have bought a tattoo kit over the...

Devon & Cornwall Police are urging people not to use illegal taxi services after a night out.

Warnings follow a surge of people using social media sites to advertise unlawful taxi services to those seeking a cheap lift home.

“People are getting into non-licensed vehicles, potentially risking their safety” said Superintendent Keith Perkin.

“They may as well climb...