High street crime crackdown prompts renewed calls for stronger enforcement powers

A growing body of evidence linking high street businesses to organised crime has intensified pressure on the Government to strengthen enforcement powers, as Trading Standards leaders and licensing professionals warn that current tools are no longer sufficient to protect communities or legitimate traders.

A new report from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI), Hidden in Plain Sight, highlights how organised crime groups are exploiting struggling high streets by operating through convenience stores, vape shops, takeaways and “American candy” outlets. The report warns that these networks are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with international supply chains, warehousing and logistics supporting the sale of counterfeit goods, illegal tobacco and illicit vapes.

CTSI is calling for a significant overhaul of enforcement powers, including:

• Stronger closure order powers, extending the maximum duration to 12 months and allowing permanent closure for persistent offenders
• Explicit powers for all local authorities—including county councils—to apply for Closure Orders
• Longer Closure Notices, increasing from 48 hours to seven days
• A review of prosecution funding, ending the expectation that local authorities self‑fund Trading Standards criminal cases
• Greater use of financial investigations under the Proceeds of Crime Act
• Improved intelligence sharing between agencies

CTSI chief executive John Herriman said the scale of criminality now uncovered on high streets “poses a serious national threat”, with links to child sexual exploitation, modern slavery, trafficking and drug and weapons supply.

The Institute of Licensing (IoL) has also reported growing alarm over the rapid spread of unregulated high street mini‑marts, which enforcement bodies say are increasingly used as fronts for organised crime. Recent nationwide operations uncovered 111,000 illegal vapes, 4.5 million illegal cigarettes and more than 600kg of illicit tobacco, alongside drugs and suspected criminal proceeds.

IoL’s coverage notes that Trading Standards officers have described the situation as an “epidemic”, with illegal vapes and illicit tobacco forming part of wider criminal networks operating openly in local communities. Some rogue vape shops have even been linked to child exploitation, using illegal products to target vulnerable young people.

Local authorities and enforcement bodies argue that the absence of a dedicated regulatory framework for mini‑marts allows unscrupulous operators to open quickly, trade with minimal oversight and disappear before enforcement can intervene. IoL has also highlighted the relevance of the Tobacco and Vapes Act, which introduces new powers to restrict youth access and strengthen enforcement—tools that licensing professionals say are urgently needed on the ground.