Three stores have failed in a test purchase as Ealing Council’s trading standards team carried out undercover visits to businesses to make sure they are not selling knives to children.
The ‘test purchasing’ exercise involved a 16-year-old visiting ten premises in Ealing Broadway, West Ealing Broadway, Hanwell and Greenford.
Encouragingly, majority of the traders did not sell the knives, with seven of the ten stores refusing the sale.
“Whilst it is positive to see that the vast majority of traders were following the law and take their responsibilities seriously, this sort of operation shows that more traders need to protect themselves and the public by doing more to stop any such sales from their premises,” Cllr Bassam Mahfouz, the council’s cabinet member for decent living incomes, said.
“Thank you to those business owners who keep on top of such vital laws, but to those who don’t, let this be a warning that operations like this mean if you are tempted to break the law that: you will be found out and we will take action! I applaud the work of our trading standards team in holding businesses to account and keeping Ealing a safe place to live and work.”
Senior trading standards officer Mohammed Tariq, who led the operation, said: “When selling knives to underage minors, both the businesses and the person who physically made the sale can be held responsible. Operations like these are crucial in seeing how well certain businesses and their staff adhere to the law by simply asking for identification before allowing age-sensitive transactions to continue.
Tariq added that the three premises that sold the knives to the minor will be considered for prosecution.
Simon Hannah
