Fourteen Mid Ulster sunbed salons targeted in council '˜sting' operation

A total of 14 sunbed salons in the Mid Ulster Council have passed an undercover operation mounted by Mid Ulster Council officers to test if they were offering services to minors.

A 15 year-old volunteer, trained by the council, visited the premises and asked to use a sunbed.

According to council minutes, all 14 premises refused a sale to the child volunteer.

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Details of the operation were revealed at April’s monthly meeting of Mid Ulster Council’s Environment Committee. The ‘test purchases’ were carried out under guidance from the Northern Ireland Sunbed Working Group (NISWG).

The meeting was told that the premises which were selected to be part of the test purchase exercise were visited in advance of the exercise to inform them of their legal obligations in relation to age restrictions.

They were also warned that such a test purchase exercise would be taking place within the next number of months following the visit.

The council proposed to undertake a further test purchase exercise later in the year to capture those sunbed premises that were not part of the above exercise or were closed at the time of the exercise.