Three service stations have been caught selling petrol to a child in an undercover sting by Trading Standards officers.

The stations were visited as part a series of test purchases by a 14-year-old working for South Lanarkshire Council’s Consumer And Trading Standards Service.

Selling petrol to anyone under 16 is a breach of the Health And Safety At Work Act and the Petroleum Consolidation Act.

The offence carries a maximum fine of £20,000 for the licence holder and up to a year in jail.

The test buying exercise visited eight petrol stations during August.

At three of them the child was able to dispense and buy petrol – a 38% failure rate.

For legal reasons, the sites of the petrol stations cannot be named.

Helen O’Neill, of South Lanarkshire Trading Standards, is determined to crack down on those breakng the law.

She said: “Allowing young people access to petrol, sets up the chance it could be used for the wrong means, with the potential to cause fire and serious injury.

“This is putting the youngsters, property and other people at risk.

“There is also the possibility of it being used for noise and reckless behaviour associated with mini motorbikes and quad bikes being ridden by people obviously under the age of 16.

“We would urge petrol station owners to make sure staff are trained to recognise people under 16 or, where in doubt, to ask for proof of age.

“We will repeat this exercise to check our message is getting through.”

Councillor Gerry Convery, chairman of the council’s Community Resources, said: “We must work harder to ensure petrol is not being sold illegally to children.”