Camelott® Launches Advanced Vape Detection Systems for Schools and Hotels Amid Growing Safeguarding Concerns

Camelott® has officially announced the launch of its advanced vape detection systems for schools, colleges, hotels and other public-facing environments across the UK, as concerns continue to grow around youth vaping, illicit substances and unreliable low-cost detection technology.

The company says the move comes after increasing conversations with schools and hotel operators who are struggling to deal with vaping incidents in toilets, changing rooms, corridors and private indoor areas where CCTV monitoring is often inappropriate or impossible.

According to Camelott®, one of the biggest problems organisations are now facing is not simply detecting vaping — it is trusting the alerts.

The company says many low-cost vape alarms currently entering the market can suffer from excessive false alarms, with some systems reportedly reacting to aerosols, deodorants, steam, strong air movement or environmental changes. In real-world deployments, this can lead to staff eventually ignoring alerts altogether.

One school speaking to Camelott® after investing approximately £8,000 into another vape detection installation reportedly explained that teachers had become reluctant to respond because repeated searches of pupils were finding no vape devices.

The school stated staff felt uncomfortable continually searching children when alerts repeatedly appeared to be inaccurate, creating concerns around fairness and pupils feeling unfairly targeted or victimised.

Camelott® says this is exactly why accuracy and intelligent filtering were prioritised during product selection.

The systems supplied by Camelott® utilise advanced laser-based particulate sensing, AI-assisted environmental analysis and intelligent filtering technologies designed to help distinguish vaping events from normal environmental conditions. The aim is to significantly reduce false positives while maintaining fast and discreet detection capability.

The company says this is becoming increasingly important because the issue now extends beyond nicotine vaping alone.

UK authorities and researchers have raised growing concerns around illegal and unregulated vape products containing substances other than nicotine, including THC and synthetic cannabinoids such as Spice. The UK Government has publicly warned young people about the dangers of adulterated THC vapes, while research conducted by the University of Bath identified synthetic cannabinoids in a significant proportion of vapes confiscated from English schools. (gov.uk)

Camelott® says organisations increasingly have to consider not only behavioural management, but also safeguarding responsibilities, duty of care obligations and reputational risk.

For schools, the concern is obvious. Staff do not want illicit or unknown substances being consumed on school premises, particularly in areas hidden from direct supervision.

For hotels, vaping inside rooms can lead to significant cleaning costs, guest complaints and policy breaches. In some cases, operators may also face concerns around guests using illegal substances indoors without detection.

A major feature highlighted by Camelott® is the use of silent alerting rather than traditional public alarm activation.

Instead of sounding a loud siren immediately, alerts can be sent discreetly to designated staff members, safeguarding teams or hotel management. This allows incidents to be handled professionally and proportionately without immediately escalating situations publicly.

In educational environments, this may help avoid unnecessary confrontation or embarrassment while enabling staff to investigate concerns discreetly.

In hotels, silent alerts can assist management in identifying policy breaches and recovering cleaning or damage charges at reception without disturbing surrounding guests.

The systems are designed for privacy-sensitive locations including:

• Toilets
• Bathrooms
• Changing rooms
• Stairwells
• Corridors
• Staff welfare areas
• Hotel bathrooms and bedrooms

Camelott® emphasises that the systems operate without cameras or microphones, supporting privacy-conscious safeguarding approaches while still providing rapid environmental detection and alerting.

Jason from Camelott® commented:

“A vape detector is only useful if staff trust it. If a system constantly creates false alerts, eventually people stop responding properly. That creates safeguarding risks, operational issues and situations where pupils or guests may feel unfairly targeted. Accuracy matters because these situations involve real people, real safeguarding concerns and, increasingly, the possibility of illicit substances being used indoors.”

“Schools and hotels are both under pressure. Schools are trying to protect children and staff, while hotels are trying to protect guests, property standards and compliance. The technology has to work reliably in the real world, not just in a product brochure.”

The launch forms part of Camelott®’s wider expansion into safeguarding and compliance technologies, alongside lockdown alarm systems, managed print infrastructure and educational safety solutions already being deployed across the UK.