Police Chief Inspector Ruari Hardy with one of the signs. Also pictured are director of public health Dr Stephen Bridgman and health promotion officer Gerry Le Roy. (Picture by Peter Frankland, 0846427)

A NEW campaign has been launched warning anybody who sells or gives tobacco products to under-18s that they risk a hefty fine.

Guernsey Police and the Health and Social Services Department have joined forces on the issue.Chief Inspector Ruari Hardy said display signs would be sent to all tobacco retailers.

‘Guernsey has a law that many people are not aware of that makes anyone who purchases [tobacco] for, or gives to a person under 18 years, liable to a £500 fine for the first offence and £1,000 for the second offence,’ he said.

If retail staff sold tobacco products, including rolling papers, to under-18s, they would be liable, not their employer, said Insp. Hardy.

He urged retailers to make their staff aware of the law.

Together with the legal element of the campaign, health officials are promoting the dangers of tobacco after it recently emerged that the number of children obtaining cigarettes from shops had trebled in the past two years.

Director of public health Stephen Bridgman said tobacco remained the major cause of preventable premature death.

‘The aim of this campaign is to make people aware that young people can become addicted to nicotine after just two or three cigarettes and that selling to, buying for, or giving cigarettes to friends or family under the age of 18 years can lead to them becoming life-long smokers of a product that could cause the death of half the people who use it,’ he said.