Billingham shop hit with three-month closure order

A Billingham shop has been closed as Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council continues to clamp down on counterfeit and illicit cigarette and vape sales.

Station Road Convenience Store on Station Road has been given a three-month closure order, which was secured by the Council at Teesside Magistrates' Court on Wednesday, October 15.

The Court heard how complaints had been made from the public regarding illegal cigarette sales and underage sales.

Test purchases carried out by the Council's Trading Standards Team confirmed cigarettes sold at the premises failed to comply with the Standardised Packaging of Tobacco Products Regulations 2015 and the Trade Marks Act 1994.

The illicit cigarettes were also sold for £5, well below the usual market price of cigarettes.

Trading Standards officers, with support from Cleveland Police and a tobacco detection dog and handler, also seized 5340 illegal cigarettes and 40 x 50g packets of illicit tobacco from a concealment within a section of a brick wall that had been precisely cut to resemble a small door.

Officers also seized 120 single use vapes which are prohibited for sale under The Environmental Protection (Single use Vapes) (England) Regulations 2024 which came into place June 1, 2025.

Councillor Norma Stephenson, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council's Cabinet Member for Access, Communities and Community Safety, said: "I'd like to thank the Trading Standards Team for their robust work to secure this closure order.

"I hope it serves as a warning that businesses must take their legal obligations seriously or face the consequences.

"I'd also like to encourage local people to keep reporting any sales of illicit or counterfeit tobacco and single use vapes to us, so we can take the necessary action.

"Anyone concerned about the sale of illegal cigarettes and vapes can contact our Trading Standards team by calling 01642 526560 or emailing trading.standards@stockton.gov.uk."

Inspector Tony Cross, from Stockton's neighbourhood policing team, said: "By working alongside our partners we have closed a shop that was operating illegally through the sale of counterfeit cigarettes and single use vapes.

"This happened because we listened to concerns from members of the public who reported the activity and then took action that has led to the store being granted closure for up to three-months.

"I want to take this opportunity to encourage people to keep on reporting crimes like this knowing that it will be acted upon."

This work was carried out as part of Operation Cece, which is run in partnership with the National Trading Standards and HMRC to help tackle the sales of illicit tobacco.

Lord Michael Bichard, Chair, National Trading Standards, said: "The trade in illegal tobacco harms local communities and affects honest businesses operating within the law.

"Having removed 27 million illegal cigarettes, 7,500kg of hand rolling tobacco and almost 175kg of shisha products from sale, the National Trading Standards initiative in partnership with HMRC continues to successfully disrupt this illicit trade."