To ensure that shops in the entire city are correctly requiring identification from underage customers, the trading standards officers of Stoke-on-Trent City Council in the UK have launched a new effort, with three shops currently under investigation for violating regulations.
A recent operation in the city of Tok on the banks of the Trent River involved two 15-year-old female volunteers purchasing alcohol, tobacco, and e-cigarettes at 11 different stores throughout the city, in order to check if the stores were properly verifying the age of underage customers. Of the 11 stores, eight requested identification from the young women, preventing them from purchasing any products. However, three stores sold e-cigarettes to the volunteers without requesting identification.
Three stores – Stoke, Langton, and Tengstor – are currently under investigation for the sale of illegal vape cartridges. As a result of the operation, several illegal electronic cigarettes were also confiscated due to non-compliant sizes and incorrect labeling.
Council leader Abi Brown stated, "Our team conducts regular test purchases to ensure compliance with legal requirements for properties in the area. We use volunteers under our team's supervision to enter these stores and attempt to purchase age-restricted items to assess how they handle such situations.
The law to prevent individuals under the age of 18 from purchasing alcohol, tobacco, or e-cigarettes is in place to protect residents and children. Employees must undergo legal training and know how to handle situations when underage customers attempt to purchase these items.
It is reassuring that most shops correctly refused to sell to our volunteers, but we will investigate three shops that failed to determine whether further action should be taken.
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