TOWN centre shop TJ Hughes has been fined £3,000 after staff sold two "15" classified videos to a 10-year-old boy.

Trading Standards officers used the child to make the test purchase at the discount department store company's Blackburn shop.

The town's magistrates heard that the boy was able to buy copies of 'Psycho' and 'Twelve Monkeys' without being questioned about his age.

But defence solicitor David Evans told the court that that since the incident the company had taken immediate and positive steps to ensure there would be no repetition.

The company pleaded guilty to two charges of supplying a video in breach of its classification. It was fined £3,000 and ordered to pay £323 costs.

Jemma Jones, prosecuting on behalf of Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, said that following a complaint from a member of the public, the 10-year-old son of a council employee had gone to the Church Street store and purchased the two videos for £10.

Mr Evans said it had been a "very regrettable" incident. He said that within four days of it being brought to the store's attention steps had been taken to ensure it would not happen again.

All stores in the TJ Hughes plc group had been notified of the potential problem and all tills now issue a warning to staff that they must check if there is any doubt about the age of a customer purchasing videos.

"In addition, measures were taken to put in place a training programme in relation to these particular issues," said Mr Evans.

All relevant staff have now been trained and that training will be reviewed at three monthly intervals.

"Wherever human beings are involved no system can be infallible but all possible steps have been taken to try and achieve that," he added.