Leading UK retailers including Asda and Tesco are calling for a review of underage sales legislation.

A reform of laws governing the sale of cigarettes, alcohol and a variety of other products has been demanded by British retailers, who claim that existing rules are too complicated.

The group of retailers, which operate more than 250,000 outlets across Britain including independent stores numbering in their thousands, has urged the government to review and streamline the current regulations. Presently, there are 18 separate pieces of documentation that govern sales of items to underage children, which retailers claim are far too complex and should be combined into one, single, over-arching piece of legislation. Retailers are also calling for trade bodies and local regulators to grow stronger partnerships to tackle the problem.

Increasing pressure has been placed on retailers to tackle the problems of underage drinking and knife crime at the point of sale. However, they believe they are being singled out for what is a community issue. They also suggest that the complexity of the regulations, while increasing staff training and vigilance, has done little to protect their employees in the event of prosecution.

Chairman of the CBI’s Consumer Affairs Panel, Geoffrey Budd, said that using retailers as a part of the solution rather than the source of the problem would be far more effective in tackling issues.

Tags: Asda, drinking, knife, laws, legislation, problems, rules, sales, Tesco, UK retailers, underage