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A pair of city centre streets, less than 300 yards long, contain a startling number of a single type of shop. Harris Street and Overbridge Street in the Strangeways area of Manchester are awash with retailers selling the nicotine dispensing gadgets, but the reason for the proliferation is not entirely clear.

The two streets are a veritable vape shop Mecca, heaving with 'staggering' 51 shops dedicated to the devices. Of those shops, 30 sat on Harris Street - with every premises on the street devoted to e-cigarettes. A further 21 were based on Overbridge Road, mostly within a small industrial estate on the street, which falls just over the border into Salford.

It's a situation that appears to have been in the making for more than 10 years, but has intensified in recent years after the counterfeit clothing trade was stamped out. Google street view images dating back to July 2014 show an advertisement for an e-cigs and e-liquids wholesale business, which was 'open now'.

According to an investigation bythe Manchester Evening News, both Harris Street and the Overbridge Road industrial estate featured a variety of retailers, but none appear to have been dedicated to vaping. By May 2018, the situation had begun to change.

Multiple large vape warehouses had opened on Overbridge Road, while around half of one side of Harris Street had filled up with smaller vape shops. An 'e-cig centre' was also advertised as having units to let.

The rest of the street, closer to Bury New Road, was made up of clothes retailers, at a time when the surrounding area had a booming counterfeit trade. By November 2020, more vape shops had opened their doors on the Overbridge Road industrial estate, while some appear to have changed their names.

Advertisements for vaping products also began to dominate the area in more recent years. By July 2024, vape shops had begun to fill up the rest of Harris Street, after Operation Vulcan had cleared the counterfeit trade from the area.

The M.E.N. reported on multiple raids on Harris Street in 2023, targeting counterfeit designer goods. During one raid in April 2023, GMP said 12 units masquerading as legitimate shops were shut down.

By last summer, almost every unit on the Overbridge Road industrial estate was devoted to vapes. Today, many of the shops on both streets have bright, colourful signs luring the attention of passers-by.

Huge advertisements also promote the products on both streets. The trend also appears to be creeping around the corner onto Bury New Road, with the addition of a number of vape shops on the street since the counterfeit clothing trade was moved on.

There is currently nothing to suggest any wrongdoing on either street.

The M.E.N. understands Manchester's trading standards officials are aware of the proliferation of vape shops around Harris Street, but there are no concerns at this time.

However, it's also understood that Overbridge Road has also been the focus of a number of Salford trading standards raids in previous years. The M.E.N. previously reported how thousands of counterfeit e-liquids were seized from the same warehouse on the street during raids in 2019 and 2020.

Harris Street has also seen previous police activity in connection with illegal vapes on previous occasions. On October 10, 2023, around £25,000 worth of 'potentially harmful' vapes which failed to comply with regulations were seized from a shop on the street.

Less than a month later, on November 7, 2023, 3,132 counterfeit electronic cigarettes - worth £47,000 - were seized from a premises on Harris Street. While legitimate vapes are highly regulated for safety and quality purposes, non-compliant products can provide a risk to people's safety.

It also comes at a time of growing concern around the health risks associated with vaping. A study has been taking place at Manchester Metropolitan University, which last year revealed damage to vapers' arteries similar to that seen in smokers.