Preston shop caught selling vape to child in undercover sting operation
A shop in Preston is being investigated after a staff member was caught selling a vape to a child.
Preston’s Neighbourhood Policing team and Lancashire County Council Trading Standards recently conducted a test purchasing operation.
Three premises across the city were tested around underage sales of vapes on Tuesday (August 20).
One premises failed to ask for ID and sold a vape to our underage volunteer.
An investigation was subsequently launched by Trading Standards.
Insp Dave Byrne, from Preston Police, said: “Selling vapes to children is not only against the law but can also put them at serious risk, so we will continue to listen to community concerns and work alongside Trading Standards to tackle this issue.”
Coun Michael Green, cabinet member for Health & Wellbeing at Lancashire County Council, added: "It is always important for us to join Lancashire Constabulary in making sure that the county's children are safe from being sold vapes or cigarettes.
"This initiative saw one establishment fail when three young testers were sold vapes. Our Trading Standards will now take the lead on this investigation, and we will be looking to take the strongest possible action.
"The other businesses that were tested were all compliant and did age-check our volunteers. This is great news as it means that the message is starting to sink in.”
If you you have concerns that a shop may be breaking the law, phone the Citizens Advice Consumer Service on 0808 223 1133.