Four shops were caught selling vapes to children in part of Merseyside this week.
Merseyside Police confirmed that a licensing operation took place targeting the illegal sale of vapes to children in the north Sefton area yesterday. Nicotine, in similar legislation to alcohol, is not to be sold to under-18s with several cases showing that illegal sales of vapes to children results in antisocial behaviour.
Constables attended two shops across Southport and Formby that police said were linked to antisocial behaviour. An underage volunteer was served an e-cigarette in four of the shops and representatives of all four of the shops have been invited for questioning by trading standards.
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Police also said more education will be given to traders with regards to vapes to improve knowledge of legislation in comparison to alcohol. It was also confirmed that a 15-year-old girl from Southport was arrested on suspicion of theft of vapes from a shop and assault on a member of staff.
Sefton Police Facebook page wrote: "Student Constable Megan Westerside, currently stationed with the North Sefton neighbourhood team at Southport Police Station, yesterday took part in a licensing operation, targeting the illegal sale of vape products to children. Nicotine products are not to be sold to under 18’s in similar legislation to alcohol, and incidents show us that in several cases where vapes are being sold to minors, these incidents are linked with anti-social behaviour in the same areas.
"Yesterday, Constable Westerside and Neighbourhood Constable Jackson attended 10 premises in the Southport and Formby area that are all linked to anti-social behaviour. Our underage volunteer was served an E-Cigarette in four of those premises and all four of those will be invited in for questioning by trading standards.
"More education in regard to vapes will be given, as traders' knowledge of the legislation compared to the sale of alcohol needs to improve. In a related incident, a 15-year-old girl from Southport was arrested recently on suspicion of theft of vapes from a shop in Southport and assault of a member of staff after being detained for the theft."
