A NEW vape store has opened its doors in Blackburn.

Juice Bomb e-liquids opened its first Vapestore on Preston New Road and will donate 10 per cent of all sales in the store to the British Lung Foundation to encourage smokers to quit and turn to vaping.

The company, the brainchild of Matt, Joe Milligan and Rob Thornhill, began life in August 2016 and have become a major player as their liquids are now stocked in over 1000 stores throughout the UK and Europe.

In the first year, they had a turnover of £300,000 and last year just under £400,000 so their rise has been impressive.

They recently won an award at London’s vapejam where their menthol e-liquid ‘Bullet’ was awarded the best menthol at the show against over 100 other brands.

The new store will sell its own brand alongside liquids from fellow East Lancashire vaping giants Vampire Vape and Dinner Lady Vape in the store.

Mr Earnshaw said: "We all have a background in retail and Joe used to be a smoker and knew the health benefits of vaping as it helped him to get off the cigarettes.

"So we had a look around and although East Lancashire is the capital of the vaping industry there aren't many shops. So we found a place that looked good and we've made it our own.

"We see this as a first step so hopefully we can open more shops up around. We'll be looking around places like Darwen, Preston, Burnley and Accrington to see how the land lies and what else is available in those towns."

The store will also feature a tasting station so customers will be able to try before they buy and find what e-liquid suits them best.

And Mr Earnshaw hope this will set them apart from the rest.

He added: "We're getting a taste station sent over from China, and it will allow people coming into the shop to try before they buy.

"People don't want to pay out for a bottle only to get home, so find out it's not right for them

"So this will allow us to have some interaction with the customer to ensure they get what they want."

The opening of the new shop comes just days after a report from the government's Science and Technology Committee (STC) report called for rules around e-cigarettes to be relaxed to help accelerate already declining smoking rates.

The reports stated that vaping is less harmful than conventional smoking and the two should not be treated as the same.

"It was good to hear the government say that vaping is less harmful than vaping," Mr Earnshaw said. "We won't know the long-term effects for at least 10 or 20 years but at the moment it's a much healthier alternative."