Staffordshire retailers warned to obey 'strict' rules after shops caught selling vapes to children

Staffordshire County Council's Trading Standards service has issued the warning after seven shops in the county were found to have illegally sold goods to children in an operation by Central England Trading Standards Authorities (CEnTSA).

The investigation saw CEnTSA officers visit 742 premises across the West Midlands between April 2023 and March 2024.

They found 24 per cent of businesses sold an age-restricted product, including alcohol, vapes, tobacco and fireworks, to shoppers aged between 14 and 17 who were volunteering for the Trading Standards team.

In Staffordshire, 76 test purchases for vapes were attempted, with seven shops found to be selling products to underage volunteers.

Victoria Wilson, cabinet member for trading standards at Staffordshire County Council, said: "We work closely with businesses across the county to make sure they are aware of their responsibilities around restricted age sales.

"Thankfully, as we found in our test purchases, the majority of retailers do sell responsibly, however where this isn’t the case or rules are broken, our officers will take the appropriate action.

"Strict rules on the sales of certain products are in place to protect and safeguard children, so it’s vital that these are adhered to."

An additional operation was conducted across the West Midlands by CEnTSA, focusing on Botox and other cosmetic filler treatments.

It found that young volunteers were able to book appointments at 16 of the 18 premises visited or contacted, an 88 per cent non-compliance rate.

The majority of offending businesses have been issued a written warning for first-time offences, while others are facing criminal prosecution.

Some also face a premises licence review, where their alcohol licence could be suspended for up to three months or even revoked.

Frances Darling, CEnTSA’s management board champion for age-restricted sales added: "Fundamentally, Trading Standards wants to work with businesses to ensure they comply with the law and act responsibly.

"However, where necessary, we will not hesitate to take robust enforcement action, especially where previous advice is ignored.

"The law relating to sales of alcohol, tobacco, nicotine vaping products, fireworks and other age-restricted products and services exist to protect children and young people from harm and for this reason Trading Standards takes its role in preventing sales of age-restricted products very seriously.

“We regularly carry out test purchasing exercises to ensure businesses are complying with the law and will take enforcement action to prevent unacceptable and illegal sales across the retail sector.”

People can report businesses selling age restricted goods to under-18s in Staffordshire on the Trading Standards confidential hotline on 01785 330356.