SHOPKEEPERS are being urged to check for ID after four out of five shops failed a recent test purchase exercise.
Trading Standards visited the stores across Reading, asking teens aged 15 and 16 to try and buy vaping products – and all bar one store let them.
Reading Borough Council warns it will act against any shop that breaches the restrictions on underage sales.
Trading standards said that they took action earlier this month after seeing a sharp increase in complaints about shops selling vapes under 18s, the legal age.
Free training is being offered to shop keepers to help them enforce the challenge 25 scheme, to help them provide regular staff training and improve protection of minors. They have also been warned that future breaches could lead to prosecution.
Cllr Ruth McEwan, Reading Borough Council’s lead for corporate and consumer services, said the test purchases should be a wake-up call to all retailers when it comes to selling age-restricted products like tobacco.
“Protection of young people is a priority for the Council, and we will take appropriate action against shops who cannot be trusted to retail these products responsibly,” she said.
Residents concerned about any sales of products to people under the legal age of sale can report through Citizens Advice, on 0808 223 1133.
