A SHOPKEEPER has been fined after he was caught in a Trading Standards operation selling fireworks to a 13-year-old girl.

Mohammed Shakeel, of Barns Avenue, Rawtenstall, pleaded guilty to supplying fireworks to a person under 18 when he appeared before Rossendale Magistrates yesterday.

He also admitted failing to keep fireworks in the Bank Street shop in a suitable container, along with fellow shop owner Tahir Mahmood, of Greenfold Avenue. The pair were charged after a Lancashire Trading Standards operation on November 2 last year which involved sending youths under 18 into various shops in East Lancashire.

Gerry Smallwood, prosecuting for trading standards, told the court the 13-year-old went into S and D Trading and bought a box of rockets. She was not asked her age or for identification.

The court was told that four days earlier, a trading standards had visited the shop and seen fireworks on display throughout the shop, including hanging on the walls and on the counter. The Explosives Act 1875 states fireworks must be kept in suitable locked containers.

Jeremy Payne, defending, said the fireworks on show in the shop had been dummies. The two men had learnt their lesson and were not planning to sell fireworks again.

Shakeel was fined £200 for the supply charge, £150 for failing to keep the fireworks in a suitable container and £25 for failing to appear for an earlier court date. He was also ordered to pay £290 costs.

Mahmood was fined £150 for failing to keep fireworks in a suitable container and ordered to pay £225 costs.