Horwich school using sensors and metal detectors to protect their pupils from vapes

ITV Granada Reports journalist Anna Youssef has this special report

A headteacher has turned to technology to try and stop students skipping class to vape in the toilets.

Tony McCabe says pupils as young as 11 are starting at his secondary school, St Joseph’s RC High School in Horwich, in Greater Manchester, addicted to vapes.

Mr McCabe said: "The vape sensors were fitted into every single toilet cubicle.

"The very first day that they were fitted they went off 112 times which tells us that some young people could not last an hour without needing to come and use the toilets so they could use a vape."

The sensors can detect vapes, cannabis and traditional smoking Credit: ITV Granada

The sensors can detect vaping, cannabis and traditional smoking.

It enables schools to monitor and act in real-time, identifying problem locations, reducing classroom disruption and aiming to improve students' health.

The school decided to install them after several students needed hospital treatment after using contaminated vapes - including one who stopped breathing for a period of time.

Pupils are not punished if they are found with a vape and are instead given help to beat their addiction, Mr McCabe said.

The school’s focus is on student safety and educating both children and parents about the risks of vaping.

But despite this, some children still try and hid their vapes in their shoes, hair and clothing.

Gamal Fahnbulleh spoke to John Dunne from the UK Vaping Industry Association

The number of children who vape has tripled over the past three years, figures from the Department of Health and Social Care show - with around 9% of 11 to 15 years olds now vaping.

The North West has the highest number of teenagers who vape, a survey from Go Smoke Free also found.

New figures show in Greater Manchester alone almost half of young people used illegal vapes containing THC - a substance found in cannabis - in 2023.

The North West has the highest rates of teenage vaping in the country Credit: ITV Granada

The GM TRENDS report, commissioned by Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and led by researchers from Manchester Metropolitan University, also found 39% stated the vapes had ‘got stronger’.

In September Greater Manchester Police seized a haul of illicit and counterfeit vapes believed to be worth around £1 million, hidden behind a secret door in a vape shop in Salford.

However police admit it is an ongoing battle to keep potentially harmful products off the streets.

GMP seize illegal vapes worth around £1 million during a raid at a shop in Salford Credit: GMP

Detective Chief Inspector Rick Thompson from Greater Manchester Police said: "We had our first case of a child being hospitalised (because of a contaminated vape) in 2019 and as a result we have used Operation Mandrake which allows us to test substances afterwards and put alerts out.

"To give you some idea of the  scale of it - in 2021 the UK Border Agency seized around 4,500 illegal vapes.

"In 2023 that was over four and a half million - so it's a really big issue."

As well as the obvious dangers of illegal vapes police say predators are now using vapes to sexually and criminally exploit children.

Detective Chief Inspector Thompson added: "We have seen situations where by children are sold or given vapes for free - that might happen once or twice and then after that point they are told they owe money and then that child can become debt bonded to an exploiter and be told that they have to do things.

"That child then feels obliged to do that and that is them then trapped in that circle of exploitation."

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