Under Age Sales

The Law

The law makes it a crime for traders to sell certain goods to young people who have not reached the legal minimum age.

The goods are:

Over 18 only:

•  Alcohol
• Cigarettes/ Tobacco
• Fireworks
• Butane Lighter Refills
• Knives

Over 16 only:

• Spray Paints
• Petrol
• Liqueur Chocolates
• Lottery Tickets and Scratch Cards
• Video games, DVDs and films can have 12, 15 or 18 age limits.

Action taken by Reading Borough Council

The Council takes its role in enforcing under age sales very seriously. The Council’s trading standards service works closely with Thames Valley Police and takes part in test purchasing projects where trained under age volunteers are sent into shops and try to buy age restricted goods.

Trading standards will always try and educate a trader about how to avoid making illegal sales to young people but if a trader continues to sell goods to under age young people, they could be prosecuted, or in the case of alcohol, have their licence to sell alcohol taken away.
If you think a shop is selling restricted goods to under age young persons, use the "Contact This Service" link above to pass your information to trading standards.

Under age sales and anti-social behaviour

The problems of anti-social behaviour are often linked to under age sales. Goods that are restricted can be dangerous in the hands of a young person who cannot understand what happens when the goods are misused. The dangers can affect the young person directly as well as other people around them.

If the Council can cut the access young people have to restricted goods, anti-social behaviour can be reduced.

I work in a shop selling restricted products - what should I do?

You have the most important part in stopping restricted goods getting into the hands of young people. If you get it wrong, you could end up with a criminal record.

If you work for a big company with many shops such as the main supermarket or off licence chains, then your employer will have training specially for age restricted products and you may have to follow certain procedures to make sure you don’t supply an age restricted product to an under age child. If you’re not aware of what these are, ask your manager.

There is a good chance your shop will use bar code scanners and when a restricted product is passed over the scanner, the till will either make a special noise or flash a message on the screen advising you to check whether the buyer is over the minimum age. This is called a till prompt and it should remind you that you need to concentrate extra hard before you continue and it is there for your protection.

If you work in a small shop, there’s a chance that there may not be any formal training in age restricted products. This means that it is even more important for you to find out which age restricted products your shop supplies and make sure you know what the minimum ages are (see the list above).

It is not easy to tell how old teenagers are so you must get into the habit of asking anyone you think could be any age under 25. It can be awkward asking for ID but remember that if the person is old enough, they are unlikely to get upset if they have the proof.

If you do refuse to supply an age restricted product, you should try and record the incident as soon as you get the chance. Write down the date and time, what sort of product it was, a brief description of the person and why you refused the sale.

This will help show that you are taking the sale of restricted goods seriously and if you do make a mistake, it will help to show that on other occasions you have been careful, though it may not guarantee that you escape prosecution or a fine.

Further guidance can be found on the website for Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (see below under "External Links").

I am an owner of a small shop – what can I do?

You have a responsibility to your community and your employees to stop young people getting hold of age restricted products. You should make a list of all the age restricted products you sell and tell your employees about them. Further guidance can be found in the article on “Trading Standards Defences” below.

Test Purchasing Volunteers

Trading Standards are always on the look out for volunteers to help them with their test purchasing projects. If you are between 13 and 16 and show a good level of maturity, ask your parents to apply on your behalf by using the "Contact this Service" link above.

Article		Description
	Trading Standards Defences	Reasonable Precautions and Due Diligence Guidance

External Links

Reading Borough Council does not necessarily endorse or recommend any of the links or services below. Please note: when you follow these links you will leave this site.

Link	Description
USDAW	Preventing under-age sales from USDAW