Mum-of-two describes how she collapsed 'within minutes' after trying 'dodgy' vape

Leia Vinnicombe, from Weston-super-Mare, told LBC that when she went into the vape shop she was just about to buy her usual choice of vape but, the shopkeeper said, "try this one, it's a new flavour, you'll like it."

She said she "stupidly" tried the one that was offered to her from behind the counter.

She told LBC: “From timestamps on my camera roll, within I think it was 13 minutes, I was basically unconscious in the recovery position on the floor.”

“It was like my mind was working but my body just wasn't responding to anything, so I couldn't stand, I couldn't even keep my head up.

"I remember feeling like I think I might have been hallucinating because I just remember seeing like a tunnel of light and I thought, oh my God, is this what it's like when people talk about dying? I don't know, just sheer terror basically because I felt trapped in my own body because I knew something was horrifically wrong.”

Earlier in April, Avon and Somerset Police closed Weston Supermarket for three months – saying it “sold illegal tobacco and vapes”.

In a statement, the force said, “it follows a joint investigation with Trading Standards into the premises which found illicit tobacco and vapes were being sold to members of the public, including children, in some cases causing health issues.”

Leia , who returned to the vape shop for the first time since she collapsed, told us she feels “violated” by what happened.

She says: “For somebody to put something in without my knowledge or consent just feels completely violating.”

“I remember waking up at my friend's house… and thinking, if I'm here, then I'm not dead and I can see my children today.”

This comes as a report released by Trading Standards claims as many as half of convenience stores and vape retailers in some areas are estimated to have links with organised crime.

Trading Standards says the budgets of Local Authority Trading Standards (LATS) services had been cut by up to 50% over the last decade, with staffing stripped to minimum levels.

The organisation warned that this – coupled with resource “challenges” for other key enforcement agencies including police – had coincided with the rapid spread of dodgy shops across the UK, as well as complex criminal networks that underpinned them.

Mum-of-two Leia claims locals in Weston-Super-Mare believe many vape shops which have appeared recently on high streets are “just a front to hide something much bigger going on in the background.”

She told LBC she posted on social media about her experience and “so many people came out the woodwork and were like, oh, that happened to my son, my daughter, my niece. It happened to me”.

A government spokesperson said: "We will not let organised crime groups endanger our high streets. We are working with police, the National Crime Agency and Trading Standards to take the strongest possible action against these criminal businesses.

"Since March 2025, we have visited over 3,000 high street premises suspected of criminal activity and arrested nearly 1000 individuals.

“Our landmark Tobacco and Vapes Bill will also give authorities the power to issue on the spot fines and enable a new licensing scheme for retailers.