Two shops in the Northamptonshire area of Northwest England are under investigation after both sold an electronic cigarette to an underage girl during a test purchase operation. It is illegal to sell such products to anyone under the age of 18 in the UK.
In October, a surprise inspection was carried out by the Trading Standards team of the Northwest Northamptonshire Council (WNC). A 16-year-old girl was sent to test eight shops in Daventry and Northampton that had been the subject of complaints regarding the sale of goods to minors.
Under the supervision of officials from the Trade Standards department, the girl visited a store and attempted to purchase electronic cigarettes and regular cigarettes. Out of the six individuals who asked her for identification, they each correctly refused to sell to her when she was unable to produce proper identification.
However, two other stores sold e-cigarettes directly to the underage girl without attempting to request proof of age. As a result, they will now face further investigation by the WNC Trading Standards team.
WNC refused to disclose the names or locations of the two stores. However, a spokesperson for Trading Standards stated that they will conduct further investigations, review all circumstances, including previous records, to determine if further action is appropriate and, if so, what that action should be.
All the shops targeted in the raid have previously received complaints about selling to minors. Shop owners in Northamptonshire were reminded that they must carry out age verification checks before selling tobacco or e-cigarettes.
WNC conducted similar trial purchases before April and August of this year.
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