Concerns raised by members of Blaby District Youth Council about illegal vape sales to young people have helped inspire legislation change at Government level.

At their recent annual conference Youth Council attendees wrote letters to local MP Alberto Costa highlighting the issue of vapes being targeted at young children.

Now the Member of Parliament for South Leicestershire has written back, acknowledging the letters and saying the Government is planning to enforce stricter controls on vape sales.

In his letter Mr Costa says: “I am pleased to inform you that both the Prime Minister and the Government have listened to the points you outlined in your letters and are acting upon your concerns to crackdown on the marketing of vaping produces aimed at young people.

“To this end, the Government will soon be closing a loophole that allows shops to offer free samples of vapes to children and they will also soon be introducing tougher fines for shops that illegally sell vapes to children.

“Further, the health risks of vaping will also now be included as part of the curriculum taught in schools, to ensure that more young people are aware of the dangers of vaping.”

Vaping and its impact on the young is one of four core issues the Youth Council has been focusing on over the last 12 months, the other three being the green agenda, night safety and hate crime.

At the Youth Conference all four subjects were tackled with discussion and activities involving creating hate crime masks and videos, green agenda pledges and vaping posters as well as the letters to Alberto Costa.

Some 100 students from local schools also attended the day as a way of highlighting how it’s never too early to engage in politics and speak out on the burning issues of the day.