Shops target underage customers

Campaign offers guidance to retailers

Over 90% of shop keepers in Northern Ireland have been approached by underage teenagers attempting to buy cigarettes, it has been revealed.

Of those surveyed in the province, 78% said they received abuse on refusing to sell cigarettes to people under 16.

The figures have been released as part of a campaign to raise awareness of the minimum legal age for the purchase of tobacco, alcohol, solvents and lottery tickets.

The 'No ID No Sale' campaign is also aiming to help shopkeepers refuse to sell anyone age-restricted products unless they can prove how old they are.

The campaign has been developed by CitizenCard, the industry-funded national photo-ID scheme.

It is hoped it will create a culture of expectation at the point-of-sale, that proof of age should either be offered or produced on demand and that this should be the norm as far as age-related sales are concerned.

It will reinforce an important message to the public and will help to isolate the small minority of rogue retailers, Russell Sharland Trading Standards Institute

Audrey Wales, who owns a shop in Ballymena, welcomed the initiative.

"I very much welcome this campaign, as it offers retailers a real opportunity to demonstrate responsibility and commitment to our communities," she said.

"It is often difficult to deal with young people when you ask them to prove their age as we have nowhere to turn and we are often faced with violence and aggression when we refuse sales.

"A clear message at the point of sale, which is what this campaign provides, will help us handle such situations and reduce the number of underage people buying age-restricted goods."

Refusals register

The initiative is supported by the Department of Health, the Trading Standards Institute, and manufacturers and retailers of age-restricted goods.

Campaign packs, which include guidance for retailers, posters and stickers which can be displayed in the shops, along with a Refusals Register to enable retailers to record details of any rejected sales, are being issued to 100,000 retailers across the UK over the next three months.

Russell Sharland, from the Trading Standards Institute, whose members enforce age-related sales legislation, said the initiative would protect both retailers and shoppers alike.

"It will reinforce an important message to the public and will help to isolate the small minority of rogue retailers," he said.