Garage fined after youth buys petrol

A PETROL station has become the first in Edinburgh to be fined for selling fuel to a child following a council crackdown aimed at cutting antisocial behaviour.

The South Queensferry BP garage was caught out after a 14-year-old volunteer was sent in to carry out a "test purchase". The owners were fined 200 in court.

The city council said the case should serve as a "stark warning" to other retailers.

The test purchasing initiative was launched over concerns that youngsters were buying petrol for mini-moto bikes, following a series of complaints over antisocial behaviour.

In all, five garages in the west of Edinburgh were tested, with three failing to ask for proof of age before selling petrol to the underage volunteers.

All three were reported to the procurator fiscal, with no further action taken in one case and another case still to go to court.

The city's environment leader Cllr Robert Aldridge said: "This behaviour is totally unacceptable. Petrol is a hazardous substance and we must ensure that it is not being sold illegally to children. I hope this fine will serve as a stark warning that retailers must abide by the legislation."

Tom Martin, chair of Queensferry and District Community Council, welcomed the initiative. He said:

"There was a concern about youngsters using mini-motos in a few areas, as they are very dangerous and the children involved could easily lose control and have an accident, injuring themselves and others."

BP was fined after pleading guilty to selling petrol to an under-16 – a breach of the Petroleum (Consolidation) Act 1928.

A spokesman for BP said: "BP takes age restrictions on the sale of petrol extremely seriously, with a number of training procedures and programmes in place which we continually review."

It was the first such test purchase exercise of its kind the city council has carried out since 2006, when four out of eight tested stations failed. All four were handed written warnings.

David Lockhart, community safety manager for Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service said: "We welcome any measures to combat antisocial behaviour.

"Young people messing about with petrol can result in serious consequences, not to mention creating avoidable situations which tie up emergency services."