Town named as vape shop capital of UK

Blackburn, Lancashire, had 22.56 e-cigarette shops per 100,000 people, research has shown

Blackburn was named as the vape capital of the UK (PA Wire)

Blackburn has been named the vape capital of the UK, with nearly 22.56 e-cigarette shops per 100,000 people.

The former mill town came just above Bolton and Manchester, which had 20.26 and 19.84 vape shops per 100,000 people respectively.

Middlesbrough was fourth with 12.43 vape shops for every 100,000 and Stockport came in fifth, with an equivalent figure of 12.03 shops.

Newport, Wales, came eighth with 9.75 shops while Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, came ninth with 9.68. Nottingham was tenth with only 9.62.

Online vape store Go Smoke Free used data from Companies House to count the number of registered vape shops in British towns and cities compared to population size.

Blackburn was named as the vape capital of the UK with nearly 22.56 e-cigarette shops per 100,000 people (PA Wire)

It comes after Rishi Sunak announced a disposable vape ban would come into the UK from 2025 in an effort to curb pollution and stop children becoming addicted to nicotine.

The ban, which does not include refillable vape pens, would come into effect from 1 April 2025 across England, Wales and Scotland.

A new study found vaping could cause a “substantial” increase in the risk of heart failure - with those who have vaped at any point 19 per cent more likely to develop the disease compared to non-vapers.

Dr Yakubu Bene-Alhasan, the study’s lead author from MedStar Health in Baltimore, US, said: “More and more studies are linking e-cigarettes to harmful effects and finding that it might not be as safe as previously thought.

“The difference we saw was substantial. It’s worth considering the consequences to your health, especially with regard to heart health.”

A new study found vaping could cause a ‘substantial’ increase in the risk of heart failure (EPA)

More than 175,000 people in the US – vapers and non-vapers – were included in the study, and of these 3,242 developed heart failure within 45 months.

The study found that people who used e-cigarettes were at increased risk of heart failure with preserved ejection fraction – in which the heart muscle becomes stiff and does not properly fill with blood between contractions.

However, there was no link with reduced ejection fraction, in which the heart muscle becomes weak and the left ventricle does not squeeze as hard as it should during contractions.

Heart failure means the heart is unable to pump blood around the body properly. It usually happens because the heart has become too weak or stiff, according to the NHS.

British Heart Foundation estimates predict more than one million people across the UK have heart failure.