Health bosses in Norfolk will continue to promote vaping to smokers trying to quit, but there are fears rising numbers of young people who do not smoke are taking up e-cigarettes.
Public health chiefs say vapes can be useful - and safer than cigarettes - to help smokers quit, but, with the long-term health implications of vapes unclear, people who do not smoke should not take up vaping.
And they say the products should not be marketed to children, as Trading Standards bosses pledged to help get shops caught selling them to youngsters shut down.
Officials in Norfolk County Council's public health department say just under 100,000 over 18s in Norfolk smoke, while 40,000 adults use e-cigarettes daily.
At a recent meeting, councillors gave the go-ahead for the authority to keep promoting vapes for smokers, but to discourage vaping in those that do not smoke.
But Cicely Scarborough, acting consultant in public health, said it was concerning that children were vaping - and some shops are illegally selling them e-cigarettes.
The council estimates that 13,000 11 to 17-year-olds in Norfolk have tried an e-cigarette and about 5,000 are regular vapers.
E-cigarette use among 16 to 24-year-olds increased from 11.1pc to 15.5pc between 2021 and 2022 and experts are worried that could mean people who have never smoked cigarettes are taking up vaping.
Mrs Scarborough said: "Although it would take a lot of further evidence, it may be that young adults are replacing cigarette smoking with vaping."
READ MORE: Norfolk vape shops warn more regulation is needed
And some shops are breaking the law by selling vapes - often marketed with bright colours and sweet flavours - to under 18s.
Sophie Leney, head of Trading Standards at County Hall, said her officers had carried out 67 inspections of shops in 2023, seizing 16,508 vapes which were not legal - often because they were unsafe or had higher than permitted levels of nicotine in them.
She said: "We have a group of retailers who are deliberately flouting the law, selling illegal products and not caring if they sell to youngsters or not."
Ms Leney said evidence presented by Trading Standards officer had led to police and district councils forcing shops to shut through closure orders and her team would continue to take action against them.
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