Stubbing out cigarette vending machines from public areas

Cigarette vending machines need to be removed from public areas following a change in the law.

Rochdale trading standards officers are reminding the borough’s bar and pub owners that they need to remove all cigarette vending machines from public areas in their premises or put them out of use following a change in the law.

The new regulations, which affect all businesses which operate cigarette vending machines in public areas, are part of a drive to make it harder for under-18s to buy cigarettes.

Rochdale Borough Council’s Public Protection Service, of which trading standards is a part, has carried out test purchase exercises using volunteers under the age of 18 in the past and, in each exercise, the volunteers have been able to buy cigarettes from vending machines.

Regular spot checks will be carried out and retailers caught flouting the new guidelines could be fined up to £2,500.

The law also forbids any form of tobacco advertising on vending machines and any retailer whose machines still display advertising could face a £5,000 fine or two years in prison.

Councillor Martin Burke, Cabinet Member for Internal and Environmental Services at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Clearly it’s much easier for underage people to buy products which could potentially damage their health from a vending machine than directly from a retailer, so I wholeheartedly welcome this change in the law.”

“Our Public Protection Service has always been extremely vigilant in protecting our young people and I have no doubt that they will have no hesitation in taking action against retailers who do not comply with this new legislation.”