Shelly said the charity has been "amazing".

Does it exist - and does it even matter in a decade dominated by downloads and streaming?They are questions for both those who listen - and those who create - and of course sell their sounds.

They are also questions that find focus at the aptly named Focus Wales festival.Now in its 14th year, the three-day event in Wrexham has become arguably the UK's most important event for emerging music artists - a showcase to the world of new talent - including fresh Welsh talent.In the view of the festival's co-founder Andy Jones, Cool Cymru was more a marketing ploy rather than a real creative movement.

"It was kind of a media invented thing, you know - there were always great bands in Wales," he argues."That was just a tag pushed onto those bands at the time - but there's a really great scene going now.

"There's lots of great interesting music coming out of Wales across all genres."

He cites the likes of Cardiff reggae artist Aleighcia Scott, the Wrexham pop punk outfit Neck Deep who have a global following, and experimental electronica rock band Gallops.Overton said the council was working with West Mercia Police on an intelligence-led basis to identify those selling the products.

Tactics included using specially trained dogs for searches, seizing products, reviewing licences and looking at criminal proceedings and injunctions, he added.Coventry City Council's trading standards team seized 9,934 illicit or non-compliant vapes between 2022 and 2024.

Liam Mooney, principal trading standards officer for Coventry, said the trade in vapes was linked to many issues, but he had found many vape shops were run by organised crime gangs – and shops selling illegal goods were "far less scrupulous in terms of selling to those under 18".He would like to have greater powers to be able to shut down shops selling vapes altogether.