The Police and Crime Commissioner national lead for tackling Serious and Organised Crime has urged parents and guardians to be extra vigilant after trading standards officers seized thousands of vapes containing highly toxic drugs.
Illegal vapes were being sold in shops and on social media or on the street, with the trade linked to organised crime groups, trading standards officers said.
Heart of the South West Trading Standards, which covers all of Devon and Somerset, seized about 8,000 illegal vapes in 2023.
Some illegal vapes seized had five times the legal...
Trading Standards is warning consumers to be wary of scams when shopping online this Black Friday.
New research shows more than one in four (27 per cent) have been tricked by purchase scams.
A purchase scam is where a person makes a payment for goods or services online that never turn up.
Criminals often advertise technology products like phones or computers at low prices to attract buyers, persuading them to make bank transfers, then disappearing once the payment is made.
They generally do this either through fake websites or fake ads on social media...
Heart of the South West Trading Standards is urging householders, particularly the elderly and vulnerable, to be on their guard for rogue traders who might try to take advantage of the damage caused to property by Storm Ciaran.
On Wednesday night and throughout Thursday Devon, Plymouth, Somerset and Torbay was hit by rain and high winds of up to 75mph.
Fencing, sheds, roof tiles, guttering and garden equipment are the kinds of things that can be damaged by high winds.
Now trading standards is urging householders to always reject offers of goods and services from...
Trading Standards is warning homeowners across Devon, Somerset, Plymouth, and Torbay to be wary of scammers who are trying to take advantage of concerns about ‘toxic mould’.
Heart of the South West Trading Standards says that there have been a number of instances of scammers attempting to dupe householders into handing over money for fake ‘toxic mould’ surveys.
There have also been reports of cold callers targeting residents and offering ‘free surveys’ of homes to check for signs of mould.
Mould can be extremely harmful, and scammers are trying to take advantage...
To help ensure that the toys you are buying this Christmas are safe Trading Standards has released two short videos.
The videos, about toy safety and buying electrical goods , feature Holly Traynor from the Heart of the South West Trading Standards Service and she gives her top tips and advice on what to look for and what to avoid.
Trading Standards advises that if you are buying new products, you should ensure they display a CE mark, proof that the product has passed EU safety regulations, or the UKCA mark, which is the UK equivalent.
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 traders were following age restrictions on knife sales.
Trading Standards also used the joint working opportunity to follow up on intelligence they had received regarding non-compliant vapes being...
More than a quarter of people are resorting to using credit cards to buy food, and a fifth have borrowed money in order to pay for rising prices, it’s reported .
A poll by Ipsos, carried out for Sky News, shows that 18 per cent of respondees have borrowed money in the last year to pay for rising costs of living.
“Borrowing from reputable sources is one thing, but people, who are already struggling to pay their bills, resorting to borrowing from back-street lenders and loan sharks, is something to be really concerned about,” says Steve Gardiner of Heart of the South West...
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 by the service.
Using specialist detection dogs officers executed five warrants. They raided two stores, a residential address and a storage container in Taunton, two business addresses in...
A significant change in people’s driving needs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing new car production shortages saw the used-vehicle market grow by over 10% last year, according to industry experts, with over 7 million transactions worth £38 billion.
Buying a second hand vehicle is a big purchase, so Heart of the South West Trading Standards has launched a campaign to encourage motorists to check it’s all okay, before they drive away.
Alex Fry, Operations Manager in Intelligence and Investigations at Heart of the South West Trading Standards, said: “Each...
