WHSmith in Swindon now stocks an ‘extremely strong’ nicotine product not legally restricted to be sold to children.

The nicotine pouches, sometimes called ‘snus’, on sale in Bridge Street include Siberia Extremely Strong.

Each pouch contains around 30 milligrams of nicotine, around three times the average cigarette according to Healthline.

It is not currently illegal to sell nicotine pouches to under-18s by UK law.

This has been described as a legal loophole, due being not classed as tobacco products.

This is all due to change in 2027 when Rishi Sunak’s new tobacco laws also bring in a legal age restriction on nicotine pouches.

Until then, however, WHSmith has said that they run the same Challenge-25 policy in their stores as they do for tobacco.

A WHSmiths spokesperson said: “These products are not available to anyone under the age of 18 to purchase in our stores. 

“All our nicotine products are restricted behind our staffed tilling area and cannot be picked up from the shop floor, and our colleagues undertake regular compliance and product training on the sale of restricted items.”

Nicotine pouch use is on the rise in the UK, according to Action on Smoking and Health. The Netherlands has banned nicotine pouches due to fears of use by young people.