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What is believed to be an illegal vaping factory in Grimsby has been raided by customs officers.

CCTV captured a man running from the rear of the Pizza Plus shop on Cleethorpe Road as they arrived and officers found large vats of vaping oil at the rear of the takeaway.

Today they were taking items away in evidence bags.

(Image: Jon Corken/Grimsby Live)

Local traders said the raid had solved a mystery smell which had baffled people for weeks.

One businessman told Grimsby Live: "You can smell it for quite a way off. It is strawberry flavour. It has been going on for a couple of months and we never had a clue what it was.

"For a long time we thought it was soap. It was a heavily scented smell," he said.

He told how Customs and Revenue officers raided the premises at around 4.15pm on Thursday.

(Image: Jon Corken/Grimsby Live)

The neighbouring store owner said: "We have never seen anyone going in or out. But it is only open at night. We never saw anyone using the alleyway at the back."

He added: "It is a shame because it is an area of the town which is thriving and I have been in business for 25 years and there is nothing wrong with the area."

A neighbouring businesswoman said: "One of our staff spotted someone running out the rear of the takeaway and along the alley on to Kesgrave Street. There was a bloke running after him.

(Image: Jon Corken/Grimsby Live)

"We have had problems with the place for a while because there is fat and oil in the drains and that blocks it and causes the drains to back up."

A HMRC spokesperson said: “We can confirm that HMRC officers visited three premises yesterday in the Grimsby area. Four men have been arrested on suspicion of fraudulent evasion of excise duty. We cannot comment further as enquiries are ongoing."

Vaping-related illnesses have increased with vapour oils blamed for 39 deaths in the United States. The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention say there are 2,000 cases of lung injury linked to vaping.

(Image: Jon Corken/Grimsby Live)

E-cigarettes are regulated in the UK and do not produce tar or carbon monoxide.

Health experts are concerned illegal vapour oil, as with illegal tobacco manufacture, could be deadly.

Public Health England say evidence from the United States suggests two chemicals, THC, which causes psychosis and Vitamin E acetate oil are to blame for the lung disease. They are not permitted in e-cigarettes in this country.

A spokesman said: “We are as certain as ever that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than smoking, which kills almost 220 people in England every day. The evidence still shows that vaping carries a small fraction of the risk of smoking.”

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