Campaign urges retailers to remember that age-restricted products are not just alcohol

As part of the Challenge25 campaign, the ACS is urging retailers to continue to step up efforts to ask for proof of age from anyone that looks 25 or under and wants to buy age-restricted items.

Restricted products include not just alcohol but also other things such as tobacco, lottery tickets and fireworks.

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “Local shops have a fantastic track record of preventing underage sales and promoting responsible retailing, but much of the focus on this activity is often on alcohol.

“Through this campaign, we’re working with retailers to highlight the importance of a robust Challenge25 policy that empowers colleagues and is consistently applied for all age-restricted products.

“We know from our Crime Report that enforcing the law on age-restricted sales is one of the biggest triggers of abuse in stores, so it’s essential that we provide as much support to colleagues as possible by reducing the risk of confrontation.

“We can take steps toward this by boosting the understanding and application of Challenge25 among consumers and retailers alike.”

As part of the campaign, the ACS is working with the Retail of Alcohol Standards Group (RASG) to provide a range of new materials which remind customers that they’re likely to be asked for proof of age if they look under 25 and are purchasing different age-restricted products.

The new materials include posters, shelf edge labels and online advice on alcohol, tobacco, e-cigarettes, fireworks and the lottery.

All materials are available to download at www.acs.org.uk/challenge25

Hardish Purewal, the RASG chair, said: “The RASG are the creators of Challenge25 and are only too pleased to help the ACS create product-specific posters to raise awareness in the convenience sector.

“These types of posters have proved to be a great asset in our work to clamp down on underage sales and support retail colleagues in the operation of age verification.

“The new C25 posters will be available on the RASG website and will continue to be free for anyone to download.”