North East communities urged to report illegal tobacco
People in the North East are being asked to stay vigilant to help keep illegal tobacco out of their local community and stop more children taking up a lethal addiction. It comes as Fresh releases latest estimates to the size of the illicit tobacco market in the North East.
Smoking is still the North East’s biggest killer with two in three lifelong smokers dying from smoking – and criminals in the region are getting children hooked on a lethal addiction by selling and supplying illegal tobacco.
The latest 2025 survey of nearly 3,000 North East adults found that the proportion of people who sometimes or often buy illegal tobacco is still around one in five smokers – but smokers who buy it are not buying as often.
The survey found that:
- Around 10% of all tobacco smoked is illegal, resulting in a £60m annual duty loss – this is lower than in 2009 when 15% of all tobacco smoked was illegal
- 21% of North East smokers have bought illegal tobacco – however the frequency of illicit purchases in 2025 is the lowest on record – with only 1 in 4 (25%) of smokers who buy illicit getting it on a weekly basis compared to 1 in 3 (33%) in 2023.
- Smokers are experiencing fewer encounters with illegal tobacco – 37% of smokers in 2025 compared to 47% in 2015
- 32% of smokers have been offered illegal tobacco – unchanged since 2015. However, just 7% were offered this ‘often’
- Most illicit tobacco sales take place in a private or social setting (e.g. pub or club) and most of the shop-based purchases are from local convenience stores
- Buyers are more likely to be male, younger, financially struggling and hand-rolling tobacco users
Around 10% of adults in the North East currently smoke. This is down from 29% in 2005 – a 65% reduction and the largest fall in smoking rates in England.
The North East has a Declaration for a Smokefree Future to end the death and disease of tobacco, which is supported by local authorities and the North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care Board. More than 88% of North East adults support the next generation being smokefree.
Ailsa Rutter OBE, Director of Fresh and Balance, said: “Smoking cuts healthy life and takes loved ones’ lives way too soon, with many people still dying needlessly each year. Illegal tobacco is helping to get North East children hooked on this lethal addiction, and keeps smokers trapped in a cycle of addiction. The best way to reduce illegal tobacco is to reduce smoking.
“The illegal tobacco trade is not harmless but is linked to criminals getting it into the country and selling it on. People who supply illegal tobacco are linked to a trade which causes 16 types of cancer, heart attacks, strokes, COPD and kills thousands of people every year.
“Let’s be clear – all tobacco kills, but keeping illegal tobacco out of our communities is an important part of efforts to make smoking history for more families in the North East. Local authorities and our NHS in the North East are prioritising tobacco as our biggest killer and the Tobacco and Vapes Bill will help make smoking a thing of the past for more children.”
Trading Standards services, based within local councils, rely on information from the community on where illegal tobacco is being sold. With intelligence from the public, enforcement officers can remove illegal tobacco products from the region’s streets and take action against those who are selling it.
Ian Thompson, Regional Illicit Tobacco Officer for Trading Standards North East, said: “Tobacco isn’t like any other consumer product. It kills two in three lifelong users, and tackling breaches of tobacco laws is one of our top enforcement priorities.
“When people buy illegal tobacco, it is often the end of a long criminal chain. Crime gangs control its supply – often the same people who try and flood our streets with drugs, with links to violence, intimidation, weapons, child exploitation and people trafficking to stock and sell illegal tobacco.
“We can’t allow children and young people to be exposed to these gangs and their criminal way of life.
“Fewer people are now turning a blind eye to this illegal trade. With information from the public, we can prosecute sellers, close shops, call for alcohol licenses to be reviewed and work with HMRC to issue fines of up to £10,000. The penalties are not worth it.”
The survey also assessed attitudes towards illegal tobacco and found 61% of NE smokers agree illicit is a danger to children by getting them hooked on smoking, 57% agree it brings crime into communities and 74% agree it makes it harder for people to quit smoking.
The Keep It Out campaign urges people across the North East to report anyone selling illegal tobacco – whether from shops or homes, pubs or clubs.
Thousands of people in the region have given information on local sellers, leading to seizures, court action and shops facing closure orders and huge fines. Visit https://keep-it-out.co.uk, or call 0300 999 0000, to report local illegal sales in full anonymity.