TRADERS in Redcar and Cleveland borough have been issued with a warning after an undercover survey found shops were willing to sell fireworks to underage children.

The borough council has also alerted the public to the potential dangers of mixing up garden and display fireworks, where safety distances vary from five to 25 metres.

A 14-year-old girl and a 15-year-old boy were volunteers in the survey during half term.

They visited 12 outlets to test the honesty of traders, who can be prosecuted for selling fireworks to anyone under 18. The survey found two shops willing to sell fireworks to children.

Councillor Sylvia Szintai, the council's lead member for environment and infrastructure, said: "These laws were brought into protect young people and I'm disappointed that youngsters are still able to buy fireworks in our borough."

Jeff Bell, chief trading standards officer, said: "We're asking traders to be more vigilant and reminding them of the rules. Some in our survey thought the cut-off age for the sale of fireworks was 16 - yet they were displaying posters stating that only 18-year-olds and over could buy them.

"We are distributing proof-o-f age cards through as many schools as possible, but ID cards are of little use if traders don't ask to see them."

The potential for mistakes over the two styles of fireworks has also been highlighted.

Coun Szintai said: "These two categories cannot be told apart simply by shape and size. We have examples of display fireworks that are smaller than garden ones and both are sold in the same pack."

Mr Bell said: "At night, there's a real risk of picking the wrong one out and firing it off when the watchers are still only five metres away. A simple step would be for manufacturers not to mix the categories in selection boxes."