A RUNCORN business and two individuals have appeared in court over the sale of vape products to children.

The trio were sentenced at Warrington Magistrates’ Court following an investigation by Halton Borough Council.

Pasu Enterprise Ltd, of unit four at Halton Lodge Centre, and Baljinder Singh Dhillon, of Holford Moss Way, were both sentenced for an incident on June 30 last year.

At Halton Lodge Top Shop, at unit four of Halton Lodge Centre, a sale occurred of a nicotine inhaling product, namely an Elf Bar 600 Blue Razz Lemonade flavoured disposable vape, to a person aged under 18.

Pasu Enterprise pleaded guilty and was told it must pay £668, including a fine of £121, surcharge to fund victim services of £48 and costs of £500.

Dhillon, aged 45, also pleaded guilty and was handed a conditional discharge for six months.

He was also ordered to pay a total of £209.95, broken down into court costs of £183.95 and a statutory victim surcharge of £26.

Also in court was Bakhtiar Ebrahimi, of Lockfield in Runcorn.

The 39-year-old admitted selling a nicotine inhaling product in the form of a Lost Mary Blueberry, Cherry and Cranberry flavoured disposable vape to a person aged under 18.

This was also on June 30 last year at Church Street in Runcorn.

He pleaded guilty and was told he must pay £636, including a fine of £40, victim surcharge of £16 and court costs of £580.

The council previously said: “We have a duty to protect the residents of Halton and to try and prevent the access of age-restricted products such as vapes to our young residents.

“Trading Standards will take robust action where retailers break the law, and the sale of vapes to our young residents will not be tolerated.”

It also previously said: “Although we do know that vaping has been used successfully to help adults stop smoking, we still do not fully understand all the long-term harms of vaping on young and developing lungs.

“It is about the balance of harms, and quite simply, smoking kills. The last thing we want to see is young people using vapes and perhaps progressing from this to smoking.

“The sale of underage vapes is a real concern. This activity needs to stop, so that our young people can grow up to live longer and healthier lives, protected from harm.”

If you have any information involving the sale of age restricted products to children within the borough you can report it, anonymously if you wish, via the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133.

Retailers who want free, impartial legal advice and assistance can visit businesscompanion.info