A SHOPKEEPER has been fined £150 and ordered to pay costs of £125 after a 15-year-old was illegally sold a butane gas lighter refill.
Teesside magistrates were told that a shop assistant at Stillington post office, on Redmarshall Street, Stillington, near Stockton, sold the cigarette lighter refill to a young volunteer working on behalf of Stockton Borough Council trading standards officers.
Trading standards prosecuted Jean Wood, of Stillington post office. She pleaded guilty to the supply of a product under the Cigarette Lighter Refill Regulations 1999.
Wood said she was unaware of the regulations, which came into force last October. Magistrates said they took the case very seriously.
Stockton trading standards officers are running a project which gives youngsters a way of confirming their age when buying tobacco, alcohol and lighter refills.
The awareness campaign prevents traders making mistakes when serving youngsters.
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