Under-age Sales

Introduction

There are strict laws prohibiting the sale of certain items, e.g. alcohol, tobacco, fireworks and knives, to children and young people as they are considered to present a real risk to their health and welfare.

It is illegal for age-restricted products to be sold to those who are below the specified age limit. A trader can be prosecuted and may lose their livelihood for making an illegal sale.

The Concern

The risks that age-restricted products pose to young people can lead onto:

• Long term health problems from tobacco, alcohol and solvent abuse.

• Serious injury, or even death from misuse of knives and fireworks.

• Being drawn into criminal or anti-social activities.

• Under-achievement in education at school.

These problems can then lead to a detrimental effect on the safety and quality of life of local communities.

Our Action

At Doncaster Trading Standards we have a proactive approach to under-age sales and controlling the sale of age-restricted products. Although we conduct enforcement action in partnership with South Yorkshire Police, using surveillance and volunteer children for test purchasing, we also try to educate businesses about their obligations through visits and inspections to retailers.

Regulation and Enforcement also run the 'Responsible Retailer Award' which is a partnership scheme that provides advice and gives recognition to retailers with the aim of preventing the sale of age-restricted products to children and young people. This is achieved by advice, encouraging the use of Challenge 21 or 25 ID's and providing staff training. Please visit the Responsible Retailer Award page to find out more.

Proof of Age I.D. Cards

Proof of Age I.D. cards are a sure method to show your age, enabling the purchase of age-restricted products. From £15 you can obtain a recognised I.D. card from companies such as Validate UK or Citizencard.

Advice for Businesses

For comprehensive, detailed advice for Businesses regarding their obligations concerning the sale of age restricted products, please open the PDF document in the right hand column of this page.

Best Bar None

Regulation & Enforcement run the 'Doncaster Best Bar None' scheme. Apart from encouraging Pubs and Clubs to provent underage sales of alcohol, this award scheme also aims to reward licensees who provide good management, a safe and enjoyable environment for customers, discourage binge drinking and prevent alcohol-related crime.

You can visit the external Doncaster Best Bar None website using the following link:

www.doncasterbestbarnone.co.uk

Advice for Parents

Every parent wants to protect their child from harm or danger to their health and well-being. Below is a list of some of the products that the government decided must not be sold to children under a certain age.

Alcohol
Alcohol, when taken in excess, can become addictive and can be responsible for a wide range of health problems. It can also lead to behavioural problems that are socially unacceptable. For their protection, children under the age of 18 are not permitted to purchase alcohol and it is an offence to sell alcohol to anyone under 18. It is also an offence for anyone to buy alcohol on behalf of someone under 18, which carries a maximum fine of £5000 and a risk of the shop losing their licence to sell alcohol.

Doncaster Trading Standards work closely with South Yorkshire Police to deal with the sale of alcohol to under-aged children.

Cigarettes 
Almost everyone is now aware of the proven danger to health by smoking, and passive smoking. Cigarettes can also be addictive, making it very difficult to stop. Because of the dangers to health and to protect children for as long as possible it is illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone under the age of 18. It is also illegal to sell loose cigarettes to anyone regardless of their age.

Cigarette Lighters and Refills
Some children and young people buy cigarette lighters and refills with the intention of 'sniffing' the contents to intoxicate themselves. It is an offence for traders to sell cigarette lighters or refills containing butane to anyone under the age of 18.

Fireworks
During several periods throughout the year, in particular around bonfire night, fireworks are for sale at many local shops and supermarkets. When used correctly they can be entertaining and exciting, but in the wrong hands they can be very dangerous. Fireworks cannot legally be sold to children under the age of 18.

As the most common accidents are burns from sparklers, packets of sparklers have to carry warnings that they are not suitable for anyone under the age of 5.

Trading Standards enforce the law relating to underage sales and the safety of the fireworks themselves. The storage and licensing of fireworks locally is the responsibility of South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service.

Lottery Tickets and Scratchcards
It is illegal for a retailer to sell a lottery ticket or scratch card to anyone under the age of 16. Any retailer who does sell to children under 16 may also risk losing their right to sell lottery tickets. This is enforced by Camelot.

Video's, DVD's and Video/Computer Games
Not all products such as films or games, are suitable for young children to view. These products are therefore classified with age restrictions. These classifications are marked on the product and its packaging, and now often with detailed descriptions of the content - such as language, violence or nudity. Parents need to be aware of this when buying or renting them.

The age restriction classifications are 12, 15 and 18. It is against the law for any retailer to sell or hire a video, DVD or Video/Computer Game to anyone who is under the age marked on the product.

'Shop 'em!'

We need your help - you can help us stamp out the illegal sale of these products to children and young people. If you have any information regarding underage sales from shops, off-licences, pubs etc. please contact us:

By telephone: Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06 - this is a Government funded call centre, calls on a BT landline charged at local rate.

By email: Using the email address at the top of this page.

By post: Using the address at the top of this page.

You may remain anonymous when reporting information to us - however, we would prefer it if you could provide us with as many details as possible. All information provided to us is kept strictly confidential under The Data Protection Act.