A shop and its owner have been fined almost £5,000 for selling illegal vapes after being caught out by a council investigation.

Some £1,500 worth of vapes were seized from Top Shop and Off Licence on St Leonards Road in Windsor during a sting by trading standards officers. The vapes were found to hold more than five times the amount of nicotine-containing liquid than the law allows.

The Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead Council (RBWM) said the shop owner has already been warned by trading standards on ‘multiple occasions’ before the seizure.

Shop owner Tamanpreet Singh, 22, of Berkley Way in Hounslow, London, pleaded guilty to two charges on behalf of himself, and two charges on behalf of his company on July 19.

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Mr Singh must pay total fines of £984, a victim surcharge of £394 and the council’s legal costs of £742. The company Baweja & Brother Limited must pay total fines of £1,332, a victim surcharge of £533 and the council’s costs of £742.

The vapes were found to contain between 10 and 14 millilitres of nicotine-containing liquid – while the maximum allowed is just two millilitres.

Richard Coe – the RBWM councillor responsible for regulatory services – said the clampdown on ‘illegal and dangerous products is essential to protect residents’.

He added: “This prosecution should be a warning to other shops in the area as to what will happen if they do not comply with the law.”