Cigarettes and alcohol sold to children in quarter of Peterborough businesses visited by trading standards

Age restricted products including cigarettes and alcohol were sold to children in nearly a quarter of businesses visited by Peterborough and Cambridgeshire trading standards officers.

Dozens of visits were conducted in July and August due to complaints/intelligence received by Trading Standards, with almost one in four allowing members of the Cambridgeshire Police Cadets to purchase an age restricted product .

Action against those premises will now be taken in line with Trading Standards’ enforcement policy which can range from a written warning, a caution if they admit the offence or prosecution.

As well as the police, Trading Standards was supported by licensing colleagues from Fenland District Council, Cambridge City Council, Huntingdonshire District Council, East Cambridgeshire District Council, South Cambridgeshire District Council and Peterborough City Council, with premises visited in all of these areas.

Peter Gell, assistant director for regulatory services at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: “We take the sale of age restricted products incredibly seriously due to the associated health risks.

“As these visits show, we will not hesitate to take action if we receive intelligence on premises breaking the law and we would urge anyone with concerns to report them to Citizens Advice so we can investigate.”

Paul Hawkins, licensing officer at Cambridgeshire Constabulary, said: “These operations are carried out regularly to ensure premises are adhering to the law around the sale of age-restricted items, however, this recent activity was prompted by some concerns reported about alcohol, cigarette and vape sales to young people.

“Having participated in these recent operations I would like to thank our cadets who did a brilliant job. We are pleased to say that most premises passed the test and refused our cadets the sale of age restricted products. However, there is still work to do and we would encourage anyone with concerns to report these to Citizens Advice.”

For further guidance on age restricted sales, visit https://www.businesscompanion.info/ and search 'age restricted'.

To report a trader selling age restricted products to someone who is underage, contact Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133 or visit https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/consumer.