Three shop closure orders imposed in Boston and Lincoln. These properties will be closed for the next three months.
On Tuesday 1 October we undertook a planned operation to target shops that had been reported to us, two in Boston and one in Lincoln, for which we gathered the vital intelligence to corroborate that they were selling counterfeit tobacco products. Products were seized and closure notices issued. A hearing was set for Thursday 3 October at Lincoln Magistrates’ court whereby full closure orders were issued for each of these premises.
In close collaboration with our Trading Standards partners we assisted in imposing the closure orders on these three properties involved in the sale of illegal tobacco products and vapes:
– Dubai Market, 30 West Street, Boston
– Best for 1, 1 St George’s Street, Boston
– PhD 50A High Street, Lincoln
T/Inspector Ian Cotton of Boston’s Neighbourhood Policing Team said, “During the numerous engagements with our community, residents have expressed concerns about the products being sold and the anti-social behaviour associated with these premises. We assessed the problem and we have been collaborating with multiple agencies in the background, to gather the appropriate evidence to achieve these closure orders granted by Lincoln Magistrates’ Court yesterday.”
Our Neighbourhood Policing Teams across the county, along with our partners, are resolute in our determination to disrupt this destructive criminality in line with our current policing plan and priorities.
We urge you to take advantage of any opportunity to speak to us about any concerns you may have in relation to the sale of illicit tobacco and vapes, be that via community engagements or using the contact details on our quarterly newsletters which are found on our website. While you may not always see immediate action being taken, rest assured your concerns and vital information are noted, and worked with in the background.
Neighbourhood Inspector Dan Gilmore for Lincoln North East said, “This is the 14th closure for Lincoln in the last 12 months. If the shops continue to flout the law, we will continue to work with Trading Standards to close them down.”
It is deemed that making a closure order was necessary to prevent further criminal activity on the premises. These orders last for three months and are in place until midnight on 2 January 2024.
Andy Wright, Principal Trading Standards Officer said, “This is the latest round of shop closures in the Boston and Lincoln areas. Sellers of these goods are extremely persistent. My officers are currently conducting separate investigations into the criminal offences that were the subject of these Closure Orders.
“The sale of these goods undermines the interests of law-abiding retailers whose prosperity is hindered by these criminals. Premises selling counterfeit good commonly employ people with no legal right to work in the UK. It is often found that people working in these shops have been trafficked and coerced into criminality by those focused on profit making. The people who are driving these sorts of schemes are often not in the shops themselves. The people within the shops are quite often victims in their own right.
“Of course, these businesses do not pay tax on the cigarettes they sell, each packet of illegal cigarettes sold costs the Treasury around £8 in lost revenue. This means that in the broadest sense everyone who makes a tax contribution is paying for that shortfall. The availability of cheap counterfeit cigarettes undermines smoking cessation objectives and there is clear evidence that illegal, child-appealing vapes are widely purchased by persons under the age of 18.
“Trading Standards will continue to work closely with Police across the County.”
The order prohibits anyone from remaining on or entering the property with a few exceptions to allow maintenance.
If anyone does anything which they are prohibited from doing by this order, they are liable for arrest and could receive up to 51 weeks in prison, or a fine, or both.
