Warning to cigarette retailers after "sting" operation
Retailers in South Lakeland are being warned they face prosecution if they do not do more to stop children buying cigarettes from their shops.
The warning comes from Cumbria Trading Standards after five out of nine retailers targeted in a recent test-purchase campaign failed to prevent a 15 year-old girl from buying cigarettes. The sellers ranged from sole traders to national supermarket chains.
Phil Ashcroft, head of Cumbria Trading Standards, said: "It is totally unacceptable that more than half of the businesses visited failed to carry out the simple test of asking for proof of age.
"If businesses are serious in their aim to prevent young people having access to tobacco, they must take effective action to ensure that no one under 18 years-old is sold cigarettes.
12:06pm Monday 12th May 2008
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