Age restricted sales
We enforce legislation on the sale of age-restricted products to children, including alcohol and tobacco.
We work with the police to reduce the number of the under-age sales by retailers in the borough and carry out test purchases to check compliance with the law and age-verification practices.
A test purchase is when we ask an underage volunteer to attempt to buy an age-restricted product. They may be covertly observed by an officer, or recorded.
If you are subject to a test purchase, we will inform you of the result either at the time or in writing afterwards.
Minimum ages for purchasing age restricted products
| Product | Minimum age for purchase |
|---|---|
| Adult fireworks | 18 |
| Aerosol spray paints | 16 |
| Alcoholic drinks | 18 |
| Animals | 16 |
| Butane cigarette-lighter refills | 18 |
| Crossbows and lookalike guns | 18 |
| DVDs, videos and certain console games | 12, 15 or 18, as marked |
| Knives, axes and blades | 18 |
| Liqueur confectionery | 16 |
| Lottery tickets | 16 |
| Petrol | 16 |
| Tobacco products and cigarette papers | 18 |
Prosecutions and fixed-penalty notices
We may prosecute, issue fixed penalty notices or cautions to retailers who make illegal sales.
In cases of illegal alcohol sales, we may instigate a licensing review of the alcohol premises licence, which may result in suspension or revocation of the licence.
Two illegal sales might lead to the voluntary closure of the licensed premises for a period of 48 hours to 2 weeks.
We offer retailers:
- free advice
- information leaflets
- refusal booklets to record incidents of refusing the sale of age-restricted products
We also do educational work with young people to raise awareness of the law and the health risks associated with age-restricted products.