Four Rossendale shops illegally sold knives to child in police sting

Four Rossendale shops have been caught illegally selling knives to a child in a police sting.

The Neighbourhood Policing Team joined forces with Trading Standards and a young volunteer to conduct an under-age sales operation as part of Operation Sceptre - a national, intensive week of action to tackle knife crime. Officers said the 14-year-old volunteer visited eight shops in the borough to see whether local businesses were complying with the law which bans the sale of knives to those under the age of 18.

Four of the eight stores visited failed to challenge the "sneaky shopper" for identification and sold her the knives. These shops were issued with a warning and will be revisited in the future to ensure they are complying with legislation.

READ MORE:

• Police hunt woman, 43, with distinctive tattoos wanted on recall to prison

• Audi driver hit 150mph with child, 3, on passenger's knee before lamppost crash

In a statement, Rossendale Police said: "Operation Sceptre is in full swing in Rossendale! Last night, we teamed up with Trading Standards to join the national week of action to prevent and tackle knife crime.

"Our 14-year-old volunteer managed to procure quite the collection of blades from some local shops and unfortunately out of 8 stores we visited, 4 failed the test and sold knives to our sneaky shopper.

"While it’s not quite the “cutting” edge we were hoping for, we took the opportunity to remind the shopkeepers about Challenge 25 and gave them a slice of knowledge about the risks associated with selling knives. Stay tuned for more updates this week."