Four Stirling shops fined after being caught selling vapes and tobacco products to underage teens
Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils' Trading Standards found almost a quarter of the shops trhey visited had sold vape or tobacco products to underage teens.
Four shops in Stirling have been found to be selling vapes and tobacco products to underage teens.
It comes as part of an initiative by Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils' Trading Standards, who sent in volunteers to try and purchase the items around the region's retailers back in March.
The 'test operation' was conducted over the weekend of Saturday, March 15, and Sunday, March 17.
They visited 17 shops in the Stirling area, which resulted in three vape sales and a sale of cigarettes to the 16-year-old volunteers.
All 17 premises had previously received visits by Trading Standards to advise them of their legal obligations and offer advice on how they could comply.
Nine fixed penalty notices, each for £200, were issued in relation to the underage sales, as well as a failure to operate an age verification policy.
It's an offence to sell tobacco, tobacco products or nicotine vapour products (NVPs) to anyone under the age of 18.
It's also against the law for adults to buy them on behalf of under-18s.
In addition, it's a criminal offence for a tobacco retailer not to have an age verification policy which outlines the steps staff must take to make sure that a customer is aged 18 or over.
Convener of the Environment, Transport and Net Zero Committee, Cllr Jen Preston, said: 'It's shocking that almost a quarter of the retailers visited by our Trading Standards team were content to sell these harmful products to underage volunteers.
'It's even more alarming when they had been warned about such dangerous activity before.
'This activity is not only illegal, but it can also put children at serious risk.
'Retailers should be warned, and parents and carers take assurance, that we will continue to listen to community concerns and work alongside partners to tackle this serious issue.
'We regularly carry out these operations to ensure premises abide by the legislation, and to safeguard the wellbeing of our young people and communities.
'The message to businesses is clear: challenge anyone who looks under 25, always ask for ID and keep a record of refused sales.'
Further test purchasing operations will be carried out over the coming months by the Stirling and Clackmannanshire Councils' Trading Standards team to ensure that retailers comply with the law.
Anyone with concerns about illegal sales, particularly to children, are urged to report the matter to Advice Direct Scotland (ADS) on 0808 164 6000 or at https://consumeradvice.scot/contact/.
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